ORIGINAL UDLX Operators manual and oil chart

I have an original UDLX/UOPN red operators manual. It has the pull out oil chart. This has been underglass and in a safe for years. Not a mark, crease, print or tear. Absolutely mint condition. I know of one that sold privately and it was well into five figure price range.Will be auctioning it off soon, unless someone is interested. Going price is $15,000.00 Can send pics.
Serious inquiries only, please.

With Christmas coming up, I'm afraid I'll have to let the rest of the gang here jump in...

(Go, Schrocky or Lance!)


Howard

If you want to sell it, post the pics. If it's as good as you say, would help sell it. An auction is a crap shoot unless you can have a reserve. Do you have any documentation of the one that sold for 5 figures? It doesn't automatically mean yours is worth that or you'll get anything near that. You need the right buyer(s) at the right time. Dave

I have one I will gladly take a 1/5 of that for it.

Will be posting pics this morning. The book sold for high dollar because it was sold at an auction that deals in rare books, papers and manuscript collectibles. The purchaser was not even a tractor collector. This seller convinced the auction house it was a marketable item and they set the starting bid price. I believe that was last year sometime. I will run down the particulars and find the info and post it. I think ones on general auction sites like e-bay, have gone for a couple of thousand. Of course, it is what ever people will pay. When I purchased, and when I sold my UDLX, it was an insane amount at that time, but now seems peanuts to what others really want and how badly they want it. How much are those UDLX's going for now? When do you think one will hit the $1 million mark? Ever? And who will buy it? A classic car collector or farmer, historical institute? Who knows........caveat emptor.

Ok...here are some pics for those interested.

I also will be selling my other UDLX parts soon. I know I have a silver trim piece off of a hood , one original hubcap, a restored original philco radio, a set of coil wound springs for the rear door window, a tail light and license plate mount, 5 original color sales brochures (not reproductions) and some other odds and ends that I have to inventory soon.

I also have a reproduction of some of the original blue prints from the engineering office from White/New Idea of the UDLX tractor before it was made. I got to know someone in the engineering department and he researched their archives and provided me with some copies. Interesting stuff nonetheless to the right person.

Very nice book you have there, but I believe the last couple that sold on eBay were in the $1500 range, and that was in a better economy. Im not trying to bash your hopes at all, but im pretty sure that the $15000 price tag isnt going to happen, especailly these days.

Thats about three too many 0's for my account! For that kind of money I would be finding a big Twin City

Please don"t take this personally, But are you nuts??

Thank you for your input. It is a starting point and I know it is very high. (throw it against the wall and see what sticks is my philsophy)
I am in contact with an auction house in New York right now and I will let you know what I get. (So far, I have had an email offering $2,000) I can bet it will be more than $3,000 and less than $10k. I know that this board and people who collect tractors may not be the marketplace, but there are people who "dabble" in paper and relics of history....and yes I think alot of them are nuts. They have more time and money than I'll ever see...so that is my market. I'm just making you guys aware of it and giving someone a chance. I have cast the lure out there, so to speak.
I was nuts when I bought and sold my UDLX 20yrs ago and it has been going crazy since. I set the first bar, if you will. Granted, the economy today is a bit different, but you would not believe what people today spend their money on and desire. I hate to let you know what my MM large dealer neon signs brought me vs. what I paid for them when I just sold them last summer.
I'll keep you informed. Thanks again.

is anyone reproducing these for those that just want something to look at from a reference point of view?
If there are no reproductions, you may want to have it copied (legally) to share with others before letting it go.

karl f

Reproduced copies are $30. Dave

I'm hanging my stocking up above the wall heater. I will check it Christmas morning. Unfortunately, I don't think I've been THAT good this year. Too bad a HD800 won't fit. Santa's sleigh isn't big enough to haul that.

Back in 1988 when I sold my nice UDLX #310552,I let the original operators manual in decent shape go with the tractor for an extra $200.That seemed like alot of money back then.

I tend to piece things out, and make more money. When I purchased this manual, I paid $500 for it in 1989. Now it is worth at least double and I will get more out of it.

It is like stripping down a tractor. Why sell the entire rust bucket for 500 when you can piece out the fenders, block, wheels, weights and get alot more for it, and it is all based on supply and demand. Who knows what some people will pay for something they really really want.

You paid $500 and now put a price of $15,000 on it? Good luck with that! Dave

(quoted from post at 05:48:13 12/04/10) Back in 1988 when I sold my nice UDLX #310552,I let the original operators manual in decent shape go with the tractor for an extra $200.That seemed like alot of money back then.

Click to expand...

Tractors always sell "too high" and always sell to "some nut with more money than sense". Don't believe me? Just go into any coffee shop after a tractor sale!

Blaine: Remember the comfort tractor in Kingman Kansas I passed along to you because I wasn't into those "late" model tractors? I believe it was $1,000 for the Comfort tractor and the KTA. Those were the fun days of the hobby. Guys that didn't get into collecting until after 1985 sure missed out on the real fun of the hobby. That was before the big money big shots got into it and turned it into a pissing contest.

30-60 E Rumelys at $25,000; only a crazy man would pay that! :lol:

Well this is not as you really want to see it! It
is not as you say " A p**sing contest" What drove
this price up, is greed on both sides of the sale.
Seller and buyer shared this inflation.

The seller at the auction, the auctioneer or a
private seller or even someone selling their late
fathers, sons, husbands estate. The seller could
have stopped it. I.E. When the UDLX's started to
changing hands back a few years ago it seemed be
like two or three came up on auctions and every
time it was a little higher than before. Then
sellers where coming out selling their's for even
more. The sellers could have put a stop to the
auction/sale at $50,000.00 is the top bid first
one there gets it.

But no lets see how much money I can ring out of
these people at the cash register. Because they
have more money than since and I am going to play
on there greed of wanting it so bad they will give
almost anything for it. Then the seller plays the
two or three greedy people at the auction or
private sale against each other.

Just to help their own greed cause to get more
money. There is a big difference between in a
profit and just being greedy. I have seen this
first hand at auctions that have scrap on it and
the scrapers pay way more than what the market
will bare and they lost money on it before the
even load it on the truck. All this done just to
keep the other guy from getting it.

Then at the coffee shop at the other table are
the sellers in a "p**sing contest" telling how
much money they got out of their tractors and are
holding the cash in hand bragging.

Just like this thread here are you trying to just
double your money on it or is it because another
one just sold sold for a "five figure" price and
you want in on the cash register here too? Or
could it be you just want to brag on having a book
that is going to sell for big bucks and you don't
have the tractor any more because you jumped the
gun too soon on the sell of your UDLX and are
kicking yourself on cashing out for way less than
these people are sell for and getting out of them
now?

$15,000 would buy me a lot more tractors and then
one book or even $150,000.00 for a lot more
tractors and a new heated shed to store them and
display them in. Instead of one a that price.

But hey, that's the American way buy low sell
high! I would like to know who first said that
one.

Now I spoke my mind fire away!

Whoa there kevin, backup. I am tickled to death that the prices are going up, up, up. Doesn't matter to me. I've never owned a UDLX, could have, but wasn't interested to own one. I passed the deal on to my friend Blaine who I was talking to in my previous post. I was commenting to him as to how our hobby has changed. Back in the 1960's and 1970's we all traded and helped each other out finding tractors and parts. Now days it's a business, I'm not saying that is good or bad just reflecting on how it has changed. I've sold some of my stuff I never figured I would let go. But as you get older your priorities change as you realize how fast time passes. The high prices have helped make the decision to sell. I am just reflecting on how the hobby has changed and it's no longer just a Farmers hobby of collecting tractors they grew up running.

I'm glad that the prices have continued to climb. The fact is that the hobby has changed. I've seen guys buy $300,000 tractors at auction that know nothing about how they are run and don't really care, they just want to set at the head table at the banquet. Those kind of collectors I don't want to associate with. People that love and respect the history of the machinery and of the people that built and worked with them are what it's all about.

I didn't mean to start a debate, just reflecting with a friend how some things have changed in the hobby and how some things have stayed the same. Looks like the jelousy factor is still alive and well in the hobby. Some of the same people who called my crazy when I bought certain tractors now complain about the high prices they are bringing now. Really they are mad at themselves because they didn't buy some of them years ago. The older collectors were driven by keeping history from going to the junkman, never dreaming it was an investment. It just worked out that way which was good for their heirs.

Anything for sale is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. It has nothing to do with greed. People who want too much don't sell their items and are often kicking themselfs afterward. Just like the manual here. It doesn't matter if another manual sold for 5 figures. If nobody wants to pay 5 figures for this one, it won't sell. I know people that wanted too much for their equipment and it's been sitting for better than 15 years. The machine in particular is a New Holland Super 1049 self propelled bale wagon with a gas engine. It was in great condition but they wouldn't sell it for less than $25,000. Now after sitting for so long, the tires are starting to weather and it's deteriorating. They'd probably be lucky to get $5000 for it. I guess that could be considered greed or just being stupid. Dave

Ed,the top picture is the $1000 UDLX you found for me at
Kingman,KS.These 3 tractors plus a KTA Twin City were
purchased by me for a total of $7,000 in the early-mid
1980's.Today it would take over 125K to buy them in the
same condition.

The 1970's to the mid 80's were fun times in
collecting.Everyone helped each other.It was mostly just
farmers that collected.Very few tractors were beyond my
reach back then.I'd love to have all of my 125 old tractors
back but someone else is enjoying them now.Do you still
have the Rumely 6 and W-40 McCormick?

Just a little story here.In 1975 I and a friend found a MM
with a cab at the Lyons,KS airport.It could be bought for
$300....We werent sure what it was so thought that we had
better go home and do some research...We found out that
it was a rare UDLX so we were going to buy it...When we
were back out that way a few weeks later we found out a
local collector had decided to buy it when he found out
that we had looked at it.

In 1978 I watched a friend buy a running 30-60 Aultman
Taylor for $5,500.In that time peroid another collector we
knew was agonizing over buying a real early 30-60 E Oil
Pull for $10,000.I can tell story after story like that.

Blaine:
Isn't it fun to now be some of the "older" collectors? Yes I still have the Rumely 6 and W-40. I still have my 30-60E and 4 other heavyweight Rumely Oil Pulls. I sold my 30-60S to a man in southern Oklahoma you know who has alot of combines about 15 years ago. I knew I'd never get a complete collection of lightweights and sold it for a high figure then, that looks cheap now. I don't regret it, had alot of fun finding it and owning it. That is the point of my post here on this thread, how the hobby has changed. We've had alot of fun and made alot of friends. Do I regret telephoning you and passing on that UDLX? Heck no, was glad to do it. You were looking for one. That's the part of the hobby that many of the fellows collecting today have missed out on. Our old friends like Adam Scott, Harold Ottaway, Lyman Knapp, Elmer Marshall, that we got to know because of the hobby are my real treasures.

I look through my book I've kept about my hobby and read entries and say "why did I sell that 17-28 TC"? Then look on another page and remember "Oh yes, I was wanting to buy this". Fun times we've had, worn out several pickups and trailers too!

"What drove this price up, is greed on both sides of the sale ...

The seller could have stopped it. "


That is utterly ridiculous. What seller is going to "stop it" just to prevent rising valuations??? You can't tell me that YOU would stop the bidding on an item you were selling at auction... No one thinks like that.

I ran a super nice G-708 up to $20k at a sale a while back - and it was just because I wanted it and they are hard to find.

Should the seller have "stopped it" at a lower price?? I was second high bidder - and I was happy for the family selling and the collector that had come from halfway across the US to the sale.

Should I have tried to con an aging family member out of it for $3000 or $4000 beforehand???

I guess that would have "stopped" the price inflation, but who would you be calling greedy then??? Anyone conning older folks out of something like that should be thrown in jail - and I wouldn't have been able to even look at something like that in my collection knowing I had scammed someone to get it, much less enjoy it...

All a price is - is the balancing point between how bad the seller wants to hang on to something compared to how bad the buyer wants it. If there is a point inside those ranges that overlap - there might be a sale.

If there is no overlap - no sale.

I've got quite a few collectibles out at the farm by now, but its just because I like to tinker with them and preserve the history. I enjoy my $50 MM wheat drills as much as my rarest tractors. Most of my personal collecting buddies feel the same way, so "greed" doesn't have anything to do with our enjoyment of the hobby...



Howard

ran a super nice G-708 up to $20k at a sale a while back - and it was "just because I wanted" it and they are hard to find. What do you call that then?

What would you call it then when a tractor sold for like $4500.00 in 1939 new and now goes for an average price 135,000.00 that is what is 30 times more than it sold for new.

30 times more than something sold new more is a bit much on something that is used. I never said to con old people out of anything they have to sell. Just be reasonable about a sale and not greedy. We are all collecting these old dinosaurs and you have to ask yourself and other collectors why they don't many younger people own any of these old tractors or collecting. It is because they can't buy a 2000.00 Starter tractor like an old U, R, or even a Z because people think they are worth that.

Greed does because if you can easily throw one hundred dollar bills around like there nothing. Where as I or even younger kids have to scrap up enough cash by either raking leafs, shoveling snow, mowing lawns waiting on that one chance to buy there first U tractor that was coming up on a farm auction that fall and to have it bought up for more way more more money than it was ever worth even now from some outsider from across the state to build into a puller tractor.

Yeah that's right busting my a@@ for my first tractor and many sales after to the big money people tends to destroy ones hopes. Until one day outta of the blue my first UTS came to me for 500.00. From an elder old man that was going to a old folks home and wanted some young man to have it. He told me his own kids where just going to have an living estate sale soon and he didn't want his greedy kids to fight over the money from that too. I still have it today and this all took place back in 1985.

There's a big difference in I want and I need. I needed a tractor to go to the local shows and parades and to save the history of farming and I don't even work on or own a farm. It was much cheaper to get into collecting tractors then it was a muscle car but now that is going away too. Just so you wonder why more young people are not interested in it is because it costs too much to play so they have their video games and computers.

You maybe right, greed is the wrong word to use. More like stupidity is proper one. Thanks for correcting me as I can be wrong and admit it too.