Technical state of tractors and trends in repair costs in relation to their age

摘要

The paper analyses the actual situation in wear progress of agricultural tractors utilized in plant production in relation to both repair costs and tractor age. The results generally document a high level of wear of tractors and negative trends in the age structure of tractors. There exists a close relation between age of tractors and repair costs. It was found that after 7-8 years of tractor exploitation repair costs are increasing very rapidly in relation to actual price of tractor. In case of imported tractors this critical age is in interval of 3-5 years of operation. There is recommended to unify methodics of data collection and evaluation of indicators of tractor operation ability. These data and their continuous evaluation would allow to optimalize the utilization of tractors.