Iron Depreciation V1.0

Iron Depreciation V1.0

IRON DEPRECIATION
Realistic Farm Equipment Resale Values for FS25
Iron Depreciation introduces an alternative vehicle value system built on real agricultural economics data from the USDA, Iowa State Extension Service, and Machinery Pete auction records. If you prefer resale values that more closely follow documented real-world depreciation curves, this mod provides that experience.

HOW IT WORKS
Age Depreciation uses the declining-balance method – the same standard used by farm accountants and the IRS for agricultural assets. This produces a steep early drop that slows significantly with each passing year. A tractor does not lose the same dollar amount in year 8 as it did in year 1. A first-year penalty is also included, modeled on real trade-in data, because new iron typically loses a disproportionate chunk of value the moment it enters service.

Hours Depreciation is calculated independently from age and is calibrated to realistic useful-life hour targets per equipment category. A combine at 5,000 hours is a different machine than one at 1,500. Powered machines receive a steeper hours-penalty curve than unpowered implements, reflecting real engine wear economics. The two factors combine cleanly – a low-hour older machine retains more value than a high-hour one of the same age, exactly as it would in the real market.

DEPRECIATION RATES
Approximate value retained at 10 years:
Tractors …………….. 10% annual — ~35% retained at 10 yr
Combine harvesters ……. 13% annual — ~25% retained at 10 yr
Self-propelled sprayers .. 12% annual — ~28% retained at 10 yr
Balers ………………. 11% annual — ~31% retained at 10 yr
Tillage tools ………… 8% annual — ~43% retained at 10 yr
Grain and crop trailers .. 7% annual — ~48% retained at 10 yr
Forestry machines …….. 12% annual — ~28% retained at 10 yr
Cars and utility vehicles 12% annual — ~28% retained at 10 yr
Trains ………………. 7% annual — ~48% retained at 10 yr
Pallets and consumables .. no depreciation applied

REPAINT COSTS
This mod adjusts repaint costs to align with real-world professional paint work. A real professional full repaint on a large tractor costs $5,000-8,000 USD – roughly 2-3% of purchase price. Iron Depreciation caps repaint costs at 4% of vehicle price at maximum wear, scaled linearly with paint condition. A heavily worn $300,000 tractor costs around $12,000 to repaint under this system.

Note: this mod only replaces the repaint price formula. The repair price formula is untouched, preserving full compatibility with dedicated repair mods.

VEHICLE COVERAGE
All 120+ official FS25 vehicle types are explicitly mapped to their correct depreciation group with no guessing or substring matching. Mod vehicles with unrecognised types fall back to a sensible generic implement rate and are flagged in debug mode.

MINIMUM SELL PRICE
No vehicle can sell for less than 5% of its new price. Scrap metal and parts always have value.

TECHNICAL NOTES
This mod fully replaces the base game sell price and repaint formulas. At very high operating hours, the base game formula can produce unexpectedly low sell prices caught by the built-in price floor – this mod avoids that situation through a different calculation approach.

The base game applies its hours-based penalty differently across powered and unpowered equipment. This mod uses the reverse relationship, applying a steeper penalty to motorised machines to better reflect engine wear economics.

The repaint cost system in this mod is calibrated to real-world professional rates, resulting in significantly lower repaint costs than the base game at high wear levels.

Data sources: USDA-NASS, Iowa State Extension Service, Machinery Pete auction records.