USED MACHINERY: About 18 years ago Fiat introduced the 80-90 tractor, a long-serving model which was to be eventually superseded by the 82-94 range in 1993. No longer on the New Holland price list – the firm dropped the series in 1996 – this no-frills yet reliable Fiat workhorse is now only available on the second-hand market, where it continues to attract steady interest. Here we compare two used 80-90 models
Some second-hand tractors sell, some don’t. Colloquially known as ‘ease of shifting on’, this factor has never been as important as it is today, with many dealer yards crammed full of ageing metal that has about as much chance of being moved on as… Well, in the current climate, possibly never!
The Fiat 80-90, featured here, sits comfortably in neither camp. More popular on the Continent than on this side of the Channel, it is one of those tractors that, on some days, will sell like the hottest of proverbial hot cakes while, on others, it can be trickier to shift than a pepped-up parson from his pulpit. It’s quite simply a ‘love it or loathe it’ model. For the ‘lovers’, the tractor unquestionably has a lot going for it. Driver comfort, equipment levels and performance are all 80-90 strengths, and aspects of the tractor that have been worked on since it was first launched.
Nonetheless it’s still a Fiat, and, in the UK at least, that badge continues to carry a certain stigma. Paintwork and electrics’ reliability have long been concerns for buyers of the brown brand, and those worries are clearly even more applicable to picking up a suitable second-hand example than when buying new. Switching attention to our particular second-hand examples, we didn’t have to look too hard for evidence of corrosion. Nearly all panels were affected in some way, with cab and mudguards sporting the heaviest coatings of rust.
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