In April, we polled Farm-Equipment.com readers asking them, “How many used equipment turns did you achieve in 2016?” A good benchmark for inventory turns is 2.5-3, according to the Western Equipment Dealers Assn.’s “Cost of Doing Business” report. Of those who responded, 29.5% are reaching that benchmark and reported they turned their used inventory 2-3 times in 2016. Another 52.4% says they achieved less than 2 turns during the year and 14.3% turned it more than 3 times. Just 3.8% of respondents reported turning their used inventory more than 4 times.

Used inventory turns have deteriorated since we last asked this question 2 years ago. At that time, 42% of responding dealers were turning their used equipment inventory less than 2 times per year. There was no change in the dealers reporting they were hitting the 2.5-3 turns benchmark noted above.