Investing in equipment is a key part of farming, but does what you own retain value? That's a great question for many buyers. EquipmentWatch, a data-tracking website that collects and process a range of transaction data for a wide range of equipment, has targeted machines in specific classes that hold their value best.

The result is the Retained Value Award, and the 2016 winners have been announced and there are 6 agricultural products in the list (the complete list is at the end of this story). The six ag categories, and their 2016 awardees include: Balers, John Deere 569 series; Self-propelled Sprayers, Apache AS1000 Series; Combines, New Holland CR9000; Tractors, Case IH MX135; Track tractors, John Deere 8RT; and for large Tractors above 175 hp, John Deere 8R.

Garrett Schemmel, vice president and market leader, EquipmentWatch, comments: "Retained value is one of the most powerful measures of quality, performance and longevity for a piece of heavy equipment. A high retained value generally shows that a machine has been successful at the work demanded of it, has presented minimal maintenance issues over its service life, and still presents a high value to buyers on the resale market. Each of these machines represents quality and gives buyers confidence in their investment on both the new equipment and equipment resale/auction markets."

Arriving at the winners

EquipmentWatch is built around transactional data and the firm collects both sale data and auction sale information from across the country. In fact, on the Award page you can see how many transactions powered each data set for selecting the honoree. The firm adds nearly $20 billion in equipment transactions each month across both the dealer (private) and auction (public) sales channels.

Using this data, the five most popular products in each category from the previous year are identified, then using the firm's proprietary ValueTrend Engine, which is a custom-built values calculation platform. Essentially EquipmentWatch compares their five-years estimated values, and the series with the highest cumulative estimated value retained over time is declared the category winner.

Schemmel adds that manufactures "can be proud of each machine series that has one, as it represents their commitment to produce and support quality products that stand the test of time in these demanding applications."

Here's the list of 2016 honorees:

Backhoe Loaders: CASE Construction Equipment 580

Balers: John Deere 569

Boom Lift, Articulating: JLG E300 Series

Boom Lift, Telescopic: Genie S-40

Combines: New Holland CR9000

Dozers, Track, Large (>190 HP): Komatsu D65 Series

Dozers, Track, Small (1 – 189 HP): Caterpillar D5 Series

Drum Compactors: Volvo/IR SD45 Series

Excavators, Crawler, Large (>50 metric tons): Komatsu PC600 Series

Excavators, Crawler, Medium (21-50 metric tons): Caterpillar 330 Series LN

Excavators, Crawler, Small (6.1-21 metric tons): Caterpillar 312 Series

Lift Trucks/Telehandlers: Sky Trak Telehandlers

Lift Trucks – Warehouse/Narrow Aisle: Toyota 8F Series

Loaders, Compact Track: Bobcat T550 Series

Loaders, Skid Steer, Large (>1,351 pounds): Bobcat S600 Series

Loaders, Skid Steer, Small (1-1,350 pounds): Gehl 4240 Series

Loaders, Wheel, Large (>350 HP): Volvo L220 Series

Loaders, Wheel, Medium (135-349 HP): Volvo L90 Series

Loaders, Wheel, Small (1-134 HP): Deere 444 Series

Motor Graders: Caterpillar 160 Series

Rear Dumps: Caterpillar 725 Series

Scissor Lift: Skyjack 4600 Series

Sprayers, Self-Propelled: Apache AS1000 Series

Tractors, Track: Deere 8RT Series

Tractors, Wheel, Large (>175 HP): Deere 8R Series

Tractors, Wheel, Small: CASE IH MX135 Series

EquipmentWatch and Farm Industry News are both Penton properties.