Younger collectors beginning to get involved in antique tractors
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2008/07/06/ [2008-7-7]
Tag : Tractor Parts
And Harms probably never thought he would see the day that a rareantique tractor would fetch $200,000 – or more – at anauction. Collecting antique tractors has spread far beyond thefarm, attracting well-heeled city slickers who've moved ontosprawling lots in the nation's suburbs and want to claim a piece ofthe country's agricultural heritage. Harms is the vice president of the Illinois and Indiana AntiqueTractor Club, which on Thursday through Sunday holds its annualHistoric Farm Days at Penfield. This year's show is devoted to J.I.Case farm equipment and Silver King, which made tractors in Ohiofrom 1934 to 1954.
This will be a national show for Case equipment: Expect to seehundreds of tractors, combines and other equipment on display. Other tractor shows are also on the horizon. The East CentralIllinois Antique Farm Equipment Club show takes place July 18, 19and 20 at the Coles County Fairgrounds at Charleston, and theOblong Antique Tractor and Engine Show is set for Aug. 8, 9 and 10at Crawford County Fairgrounds at Oblong. Farmers, or those from a farming background, still make up the bulkof those in attendance at the tractor and farm equipment shows. Butstrolling around the grounds in increasing numbers is a new breedof collector – and they don't usually walk around with aDeKalb Seed hat on their heads.
"That's happened over the last 10 to 12 years, but a lot more overthe last six or seven years," says Harms, a St. Joseph-area farmerwho "loves International Harvester equipment." "There's a lot more interest for having a piece of a farm history.And the Internet is another thing that has helped spur interest inold farm equipment. There's a lot of people out there with prettygood jobs, and they've had (restored) cars and motorcycles and nowhave gotten interested in tractors," he adds. Correspondingly, the hottest tractors for the last few years arethe small ones, easy to handle, easy to load onto a trailer andeasy to work on. The most popular models, no matter the make, fromAllis Chalmers to Silver King and everything in between, were madebetween 1945 and 1963.
"A lot of people are going for the light, two-plow or three- tofour-plow tractor. These are the simple, streamlined tractors withheadlights," Harms says.
Mark Wood of rural Gifford is a farmer and part-time tractorrestorer who specializes in bringing International Harvester andFarmall tractors back to life. The biggest change he has seen hasbeen the age of his customers – the vast majority of whom arestill involved in farming.
"It started out as the 65-year-old guy who had this tractor sittingaround the farm and wanted to get it restored," Wood says. "Now I'mseeing a lot more of the 35-, 40-, 45-year-old guys and they wantto own a tractor like Dad or Grandfather had. They want to bringmore of that history back to the farm." He points to an example of a California man who tracked down hisfather's tractor to have it restored. The tractor was located inIowa and trucked back to California. "He messed with it a few years and then found out about me. Thetractor was trucked to Illinois. I restored it, and then it wastrucked back to California. He may have had more in trucking coststhan in the restoration," Wood says. As tractor prices have steadily escalated, so have prices for partsand implements such as plows, planters and cultivators. "The plows, man, everyone has bought them. Trying to find a plowthese days, that's the hard thing. A lot of them have already beentaken to the scrapyard," says Don Madlem of rural Charleston and amember of the East Central Illinois Antique Farm Equipment Club. And if you are lucky enough to have a plow for your antique tractorand want to use it – and if you don't have a really largegarden – organizers have come up with "plow days" across thecountry.
"Everyone wants to plow," Harms says. "We've gotten in so manypeople who've never plowed before that we have to give them lessonsso they don't mess something up." Meanwhile, the supply of good quality, new old-stock parts, betterknown as NOS parts among antique vehicle collectors, has also driedup. Some hard-to-find parts have to be made. Wood gets some partsmade at a machine shop in Indiana and makes others, like mufflersand hoods, himself. "You've got a lot more people making parts these days. There aresome real good manufactured parts out there like hoods, decals,wheels and tires. The people who sell bad-quality parts get weededout pretty fast in this business because word passes through thecommunity so fast," Harms says.
The cost of those parts and paint jobs can pile up –especially for the owner who wants every little part, from thebolts to the bearings, to be correct. A thorough restoration jobcan run up to $25,000 – far more than the original price ofthe tractor. The Allis Chalmers Model B, for example, wasintroduced in 1938. It was the first, popular lightweight tractormade for the American market. The cost: $500.
Still, the cost of restoring a tractor isn't out of line withsimilar hobbies like car restoration. Prices are up everywhere,from paint to steel to tires. In fact, with steel prices so high,some farmers are tempted to scrap those forlorn tractors sitting inpastures and along fence rows rather than have them restored.
Wood cringes at the idea. "A lot of these old tractors are getting junked out and will neverbe restored," he says. "Once they're gone, they're gone for good." That's where all those new collectors can be good for the hobby.Saving old farm machinery is a good thing as far as Harms andMadlem are concerned. "It's a nice hobby and you meet a lot of really nice people,"Madlem says. Harms started piddling around with tractors when he was in highschool.
"I've done it for 55 years. It's multiplied to the point where mychildren and grandchildren are involved and enjoying the hobby– and that makes it fun. I've found so many nice people inthis hobby. It's a good hobby because a lot of people want a pieceof agricultural heritage and history."
And Harms probably never thought he would see the day that a rareantique tractor would fetch $200,000 – or more – at anauction. Collecting antique tractors has spread far beyond thefarm, attracting well-heeled city slickers who've moved ontosprawling lots in the nation's suburbs and want to claim a piece ofthe country's agricultural heritage. Harms is the vice president of the Illinois and Indiana AntiqueTractor Club, which on Thursday through Sunday holds its annualHistoric Farm Days at Penfield. This year's show is devoted to J.I.Case farm equipment and Silver King, which made tractors in Ohiofrom 1934 to 1954.
This will be a national show for Case equipment: Expect to seehundreds of tractors, combines and other equipment on display. Other tractor shows are also on the horizon. The East CentralIllinois Antique Farm Equipment Club show takes place July 18, 19and 20 at the Coles County Fairgrounds at Charleston, and theOblong Antique Tractor and Engine Show is set for Aug. 8, 9 and 10at Crawford County Fairgrounds at Oblong. Farmers, or those from a farming background, still make up the bulkof those in attendance at the tractor and farm equipment shows. Butstrolling around the grounds in increasing numbers is a new breedof collector – and they don't usually walk around with aDeKalb Seed hat on their heads.
"That's happened over the last 10 to 12 years, but a lot more overthe last six or seven years," says Harms, a St. Joseph-area farmerwho "loves International Harvester equipment." "There's a lot more interest for having a piece of a farm history.And the Internet is another thing that has helped spur interest inold farm equipment. There's a lot of people out there with prettygood jobs, and they've had (restored) cars and motorcycles and nowhave gotten interested in tractors," he adds. Correspondingly, the hottest tractors for the last few years arethe small ones, easy to handle, easy to load onto a trailer andeasy to work on. The most popular models, no matter the make, fromAllis Chalmers to Silver King and everything in between, were madebetween 1945 and 1963.
"A lot of people are going for the light, two-plow or three- tofour-plow tractor. These are the simple, streamlined tractors withheadlights," Harms says.
Mark Wood of rural Gifford is a farmer and part-time tractorrestorer who specializes in bringing International Harvester andFarmall tractors back to life. The biggest change he has seen hasbeen the age of his customers – the vast majority of whom arestill involved in farming.
"It started out as the 65-year-old guy who had this tractor sittingaround the farm and wanted to get it restored," Wood says. "Now I'mseeing a lot more of the 35-, 40-, 45-year-old guys and they wantto own a tractor like Dad or Grandfather had. They want to bringmore of that history back to the farm." He points to an example of a California man who tracked down hisfather's tractor to have it restored. The tractor was located inIowa and trucked back to California. "He messed with it a few years and then found out about me. Thetractor was trucked to Illinois. I restored it, and then it wastrucked back to California. He may have had more in trucking coststhan in the restoration," Wood says. As tractor prices have steadily escalated, so have prices for partsand implements such as plows, planters and cultivators. "The plows, man, everyone has bought them. Trying to find a plowthese days, that's the hard thing. A lot of them have already beentaken to the scrapyard," says Don Madlem of rural Charleston and amember of the East Central Illinois Antique Farm Equipment Club. And if you are lucky enough to have a plow for your antique tractorand want to use it – and if you don't have a really largegarden – organizers have come up with "plow days" across thecountry.
"Everyone wants to plow," Harms says. "We've gotten in so manypeople who've never plowed before that we have to give them lessonsso they don't mess something up." Meanwhile, the supply of good quality, new old-stock parts, betterknown as NOS parts among antique vehicle collectors, has also driedup. Some hard-to-find parts have to be made. Wood gets some partsmade at a machine shop in Indiana and makes others, like mufflersand hoods, himself. "You've got a lot more people making parts these days. There aresome real good manufactured parts out there like hoods, decals,wheels and tires. The people who sell bad-quality parts get weededout pretty fast in this business because word passes through thecommunity so fast," Harms says.
The cost of those parts and paint jobs can pile up –especially for the owner who wants every little part, from thebolts to the bearings, to be correct. A thorough restoration jobcan run up to $25,000 – far more than the original price ofthe tractor. The Allis Chalmers Model B, for example, wasintroduced in 1938. It was the first, popular lightweight tractormade for the American market. The cost: $500.
Still, the cost of restoring a tractor isn't out of line withsimilar hobbies like car restoration. Prices are up everywhere,from paint to steel to tires. In fact, with steel prices so high,some farmers are tempted to scrap those forlorn tractors sitting inpastures and along fence rows rather than have them restored.
Wood cringes at the idea. "A lot of these old tractors are getting junked out and will neverbe restored," he says. "Once they're gone, they're gone for good." That's where all those new collectors can be good for the hobby.Saving old farm machinery is a good thing as far as Harms andMadlem are concerned. "It's a nice hobby and you meet a lot of really nice people,"Madlem says. Harms started piddling around with tractors when he was in highschool.
"I've done it for 55 years. It's multiplied to the point where mychildren and grandchildren are involved and enjoying the hobby– and that makes it fun. I've found so many nice people inthis hobby. It's a good hobby because a lot of people want a pieceof agricultural heritage and history."
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