Like all farming machinery, farm tractors should be characterised by high reliability, which guarantees trouble-free operation, especially during intense agrotechnical works. The knowledge of the course of reliability functions, especially the failure intensity function, is of high practical significance. It lets manufacturers lead the right overhaul policy and it lets users make the right purchase choice. Therefore, it is recommended to conduct research comparing the reliability of farming machinery. It is necessary to apply universal methodology and use a vast database providing information about failures of individual working units in various makes, models, types and variants of farming machinery. The method was validated by analysing failures of 29 components of Zetor farm tractors with the engine power ranging from 45 to 90 kW.