Abilene Equipment Appraisal
Abilene heavy equipment valuations for Taylor, Jones and Callahan counties. Starting at $295.
Abilene equipment appraisal is a certified report on what a business’s heavy equipment in Taylor, Jones or Callahan County is worth: a contractor’s dozers, excavators and motor graders, the winch trucks and vacuum trucks of an oilfield service company, a carrier’s semi trucks and trailers, and the tractors and combines of a wheat and cotton farm. A Certified Machinery and Equipment Appraiser (CMEA) signs it, and the work is done under the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP).
- A yard in Abilene, a job site near Baird and a farm outside Anson can share one report.
- Desktop appraisals are prepared from the photos and records you send, with the equipment left at work.
- If a lender or a court wants someone to look at the equipment, a site inspection is set up.
- Every machine has a line of its own, with a serial number, hours or miles and a value.
- The fee and the delivery date are sent in writing ahead of any commitment.
- USPAP-compliant
- Signed by a CMEA
- Rated 5.0 on Google
How does an Abilene equipment appraisal start?
1. The equipment
First the form asks what kind of equipment it is and how many pieces there are.
2. Method, place and date
Next you pick desktop or on-site and give the city where the equipment sits. Then you say when the report is needed and where the quote should go.
3. The list, with a county on each line
After you accept the quote, the equipment list comes next. Put the county beside each machine, along with its serial number, hours or miles, and photos. Abilene itself lies in two counties.
What should an Abilene equipment owner know first?
- One city, two counties
- Each Texas county has an appraisal district, the office that values property for tax. The Census Bureau places the city of Abilene in both Taylor County and Jones County. Equipment on the Taylor side is listed with the Central Appraisal District of Taylor County on South Treadaway Boulevard. On the Jones side it is the Jones County Appraisal District in Anson. Clyde and Baird are in Callahan County, which has the Callahan Central Appraisal District in Baird. Central Appraisal District of Taylor County
- The yearly list
- A business sends its district a list of its equipment each year, called a rendition. Texas makes it due April 15, and the Taylor and Jones districts both print that date. State law gives until May 15 to an owner who asks in writing, and lets the chief appraiser, the head of the district, add 15 days for good cause.
- What the Taylor district looks at
- The Taylor district’s leaflet on business property says it inspects each business location in the county on site every year. The same leaflet asks owners to provide records showing the acquisition date and cost of equipment, machinery and vehicles. Keep both for every machine.
- The Taylor schedule
- The Taylor district’s depreciation schedule, its table for marking property down by age, gives heavy equipment a normal life of 12 years and trucks of one ton and larger a life of 8. A note at the foot says assets are appraised individually and that normal economic life may not apply in all cases.
- Delivery
- Once the photos and records are complete, a desktop report is normally ready in 7 to 10 business days. For one or two machines, ask about a rush, which takes 24 to 48 hours. Travel adds time when an inspection is part of the job.
- Fee
- Starting at $295. More machines, a site inspection or a rush adds to it.
What is particular to equipment around Abilene?
A tax table that marks heavy equipment down to 10 percent, oilfield trucks, and wheat and cotton machinery in Jones County.
Heavy equipment and the 12-year column
In the Taylor schedule’s 12-year column the percentage falls each year and then holds at 10 percent from age 13 on. The market does not price a dozer or a motor grader by age alone. Hours, the state of the undercarriage, which is the tracks and rollers a dozer runs on, and recent repairs all move the price. The schedule itself allows that normal life may not fit every asset. Which column the district uses for your machine is the district’s to say, so ask it, and bring a market value for each machine when the two figures are far apart.
Oilfield trucks
Trucks of one ton and larger carry a normal life of 8 years on the Taylor schedule, and its table has no entry for a winch, a tank or a pump. Which life the district gives a winch truck or a vacuum truck is the district’s to say, so ask it. A winch truck pulls heavy gear onto its bed with a cable, and its price depends on the winch and the bed as well as the truck under them. A vacuum truck pumps liquid into a tank, so the tank’s size and the pump’s condition count beside the miles. Send the truck’s vehicle identification number (VIN) and photos of the working equipment on it.
Wheat and cotton machinery in Jones County
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s farm census counts more wheat acres and more cotton acres in Jones County than in Taylor County. A combine carries an engine hour meter and a second meter for the separator, where the grain is threshed, and buyers read both. The header, the wide cutting platform on the front, sells with it and counts toward the price too. Section 11.161 of the Tax Code exempts from Texas property tax the machinery and equipment used in making farm or ranch products. The Jones district’s page on the appraisal process says business owners must report a rendition and is silent on farm machinery, so put the question to the district.
What clients have said
“This should be good for two years then I will contact you again.”
“The appraisal looks good to me.”
“Thank you so much for your timely completion of this report.”
What equipment is appraised around Abilene?
Construction, oilfield, trucking and farm equipment in Taylor, Jones and Callahan counties, whether it is one unit or everything a company owns.
Earthmoving
Dozers, excavators, motor graders and wheel loaders. The hour meter and the undercarriage or tires should be in the photos.
Oilfield trucks and rigs
Winch trucks, vacuum trucks and well service rigs, the truck-mounted rigs that work on a well after it is drilled.
Semi trucks and trailers
Semi trucks, plus the dump trucks and flatbeds that haul with them, and lowboys, the trailers that ride low to carry a tall machine. Trucks need miles and a VIN.
Cranes and boom trucks
Truck cranes, crawler cranes and boom trucks, meaning trucks that carry a crane behind the cab. Include the latest inspection.
Farm machinery
Tractors, combines with their headers, cotton harvesters and hay equipment.
Forklifts and shop equipment
Forklifts and the welding equipment in a fabrication shop. A forklift’s capacity is on its plate.
Not on this list? Write it in on the form.
What should I ask an Abilene equipment appraiser first?
Will they ask for the county of each machine?
An Abilene address can be in Taylor County or Jones County, and Clyde is in Callahan County. The county decides which appraisal district lists the machine. SBA’s county lists put Taylor and Jones with its Lubbock office and Callahan with its Euless office. A report that shows the county on every line saves sorting later.
Will the report explain a machine that outlasts the table?
The Taylor schedule says assets are appraised individually. A grader past 12 years with low hours and a rebuilt engine can be worth more than a table by age shows. Ask for the hours, the condition and the repairs to be written beside each value.
Do they know where an Abilene bankruptcy case is filed?
The bankruptcy court’s own page calls its Abilene courtroom a hearing location only. Cases and pleadings are filed at the George Mahon Federal Building in Lubbock. Give the court’s date when the form asks when you need the report, and get the delivery date in the quote.
Which offices and courts does an Abilene equipment file reach?
The appraisal districts. Taylor, Jones and Callahan counties each have one. When a district’s value looks too high, the owner can protest to its appraisal review board, the panel that hears those disputes, and an independent appraisal is evidence there. Central Appraisal District of Taylor County
The federal courts. Federal law places Taylor, Jones and Callahan counties in the Abilene Division of the Northern District of Texas, and the district court’s office is at 341 Pine Street. Bankruptcy is handled differently. The bankruptcy court lists the Pine Street courthouse as a hearing location only and takes filings for Abilene cases in Lubbock, at 1205 Texas Avenue.
Lenders and the SBA. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) lists Taylor and Jones counties under its West Texas District Office in Lubbock and Callahan County under the Dallas/Fort Worth office at Euless. A lender may want fair market value, what a buyer would pay a seller when neither is forced, or orderly liquidation value, a lower figure for equipment that has to sell within a set period. The loan officer will name the one to use.
What do I send for an Abilene appraisal?
- An equipment list showing year, make, model and county for every piece.
- Serial numbers for the machines, and the VIN of any truck or trailer.
- Hours for machines, miles for trucks, and both hour meters on a combine.
- Photos from every side, plus the serial plate and the hour meter.
- The acquisition date and cost, which the Taylor district also asks for.
- The court’s or the lender’s date, if there is one.
Which towns around Abilene are covered?
Taylor, Jones and Callahan counties, including:
- Abilene
- Tye
- Merkel
- Trent
- Buffalo Gap
- Tuscola
- Lawn
- Impact
- Potosi
- Clyde
- Baird
- Cross Plains
- Putnam
- Anson
- Hawley
- Stamford
- Hamlin
- Lueders
Abilene bankruptcy cases are filed in Lubbock, where the SBA office for Taylor and Jones counties is. Lubbock equipment appraiser
Callahan County is on the Dallas/Fort Worth SBA list. Fort Worth equipment appraiser
What else do Abilene equipment owners ask?
Who sells heavy equipment, farm machinery and trucks in Abilene?
Warren CAT on Loop 322 calls itself the exclusive Cat dealer for West Texas and sells new and used machines. Kirby-Smith Machinery on Interstate 20 West lists Komatsu among its brands, with new, used and rental equipment. United Ag & Turf has John Deere dealerships on Loop 322 and in Stamford. Rush Truck Centers gives its Abilene store an address in Tye and sells new and used Peterbilt trucks there. C.M. Company Auctions in Abilene sells trucks and equipment at auction, and machines located in Abilene turn up in Ritchie Bros. auction results too.
How do I know whether my Abilene yard is in Taylor County or Jones County?
Check a notice of appraised value, the letter in which a district states the value it placed on the property. It comes from one district, and that district’s county is the one to put on the equipment list.
Do you appraise equipment in Sweetwater?
Yes. Sweetwater is in Nolan County. Nolan County is in the Abilene Division, and the SBA lists it under the same West Texas office as Taylor and Jones counties. It has an appraisal district of its own.
Does a Jones County farm have to list its tractors and combines for property tax?
State law takes farm and ranch production machinery off the property tax roll. The Jones district’s pages do not say how it applies that, so ask the district in Anson. Whatever its answer, an appraisal states the market value of each machine.
Ask for an Abilene equipment appraisal quote
Dozers, motor graders, excavators, oilfield trucks, semi trucks, cranes, tractors and combines in Taylor, Jones and Callahan counties, appraised for contractors, oilfield companies, farms, lenders and courts. The form asks four things, and the quote comes to your email.