Grain Hopper Trailers Hold Their Value

Trailers are available if you know where to look and prices are steady.

- Karen Jones

While supply of grain hopper trailers have taken a hit since the early 2020s, as with all other types of equipment, the market is returning to a stable place.

“2024 was an interesting year,” said Brian Anderson, Timpte’s eastern region general manager. “The first half of the year, we were still on the COVID highs, where supply did not meet the demand. But in the second half, that changed.”

He said new and used trailer purchasing slowed as the year went on, with more used trailers available later in the year than at the beginning.

“Our core customer is a one-, two-trailer farmer, and with corn and bean prices being down, we saw a decline in spending,” Anderson said. He also noted that historically, there has been a reluctance to spend during an election year; however, in the days following the 2024 election, they saw an increase in demand.

Brent Van Soelen, whole unit sales coordinator for Vander Haag’s, an equipment dealer with locations in seven states, says their supply of used ag hopper trailers declined last year.

“It’s so easy for farmers to put their used trailers out on places like Facebook Marketplace or just by word of mouth, and they move their own inventory and then bring the cash in to buy something new,” he said. “We’re just not seeing the used tradeins the last few years, like we historically have.”

Van Soelen said pricing has come down slightly on used trailers, but added he doesn’t normally see huge price swings either way.