it will sell for less than the engineless tucker!
I agree...
PJL, I started writing a reply to your post about this machine selling for more than the engineless Tucker, and then got sidetracked. There have been several posts since, but here's what I had written in reply:
There has certainly been a surprising amount of bidding activity thus far, and at the current price it's pretty much a slam dunk. But...
In my opinion, and as someone who tries to stay abreast of used Tucker values, at the end of the day this is a machine with four doors, mid-length tracks and a 318/manual transmission combination, which is the base level powertrain. This does have a front winch, but it doesn't have other very desirable options such as a six-way blade, an automatic transmission, a bigger engine, long tracks or damper wheels. To me, that limits the upside value of the machine.
I've bought a total of five Tuckers. All of them have been newer than this one at auction. Two were three door machines, two were four door machines, two had front six way blades, two had front winches, one had a 360 and an automatic transmission and four had damper wheels. Average number of hours was 964. So, generally speaking (and in my opinion), more highly optioned snowcats, and deserving of higher prices.
Of those five Tuckers, only one did I pay more than $20K for. Admittedly, used snowcat values have been rising over the last several years but unless one inspects the machine in person prior to bidding, you are basing your bid on an incomplete description and a handful of relatively small photos. I think it would be a mistake to bid what I'll call "full retail value" for a 42 year old snowcat for which you're assuming substantial risk.