1950 Minneapolis Moline Tractor on eBay

JAK in AZ

New User
Has anyone else seen the For Sale Ad on eBay for a 1950 Minneapolis Moline ZAU Tractor from New York? Does look like a nice restoration, but $15,200.00 with a reserve, and a $19,760.00 Buy It Now price!! WOW.
 
I saw that as well. I have the 21st from the last ZAU made.....Id sell it for 15,000. Any takers?? lol... Maybe it has to be priced that high so after the ebay and paypal fees he will have left over what it is really worth.
 
I saw that as well. I have the 21st from the last ZAU made.....Id sell it for 15,000. Any takers?? lol... Maybe it has to be priced that high so after the ebay and paypal fees he will have left over what it is really worth.
 
Let's assume you started with a 1500 dollar Z in need of restoration. Then take it to an Agco dealer and have them rebuild it top to bottom at 95 dollars per hour labor. Throw in a professional automotive grade paint job and all the finishing touches- you would still be hard pressed to have a 15000 dollar investment. Unfortunately a premium restoration on a Z tractor would ultimately cost several times what it would be worth on the retail market.
 
If you type 1950 Minneapolis Moline Tractor in the search box it should come up. Has about 7 days left.
 

AMC-68,
I encourage you to try that!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have restored 6 tractors in my own shop with help of retired mechanic and retired painter at half the hourly rate you quote. No allowance for my time working on them and hours on computer searching parts.
I do my own its a labor of love and I can tell you! Your just warming up at 15,000.00 Done right.
Tony
 

The tractor in question appears to have been well cared for .However ,its not show quality to warrant that kind of money!!!
Also, have I missed something ? The gauges show a warm motor however, O oil pressure.
It needs to be museum quality with paper work to back it up, to talk the big bucks.
Tony
 
Tony, It could have been running and then they shut it off to take the picture. It would show 0 oil pressure, but the thermal bulb type gauge would still show temp.
MMDEL
 
I restored quite a few that way in the last fifty years. Mostly early john deere 2 cylinders and a few traction engines. I was thankfully fortunate enough to have a mechanical engineer for a neighbor and a brother in law who owned a body shop. They were always a wonderful ( and free) help.

In my experience it takes a pretty rare tractor to ever get a decent resale out of a quality restoration. I have a very early ZB that my late uncle bought new, I sunk around 14,000 into it just to preserve the family history and get it looking better than new. The costs just added up quicker than I realized. The tractor is priceless to me, but anyone with half a brain wouldn't pay over maybe $4500 for such a tractor. Now a $14000 dollar investment on a udlx would be money well spent.
Maybe the fellow on ebay had a history with his tractor and money was not a factor. I however have made the mistake of sinking way too much money in a common tractor. It got me laughed at around the coffee circle a few times.
It's just unfortunate there is very little room for profit when restoring "common" tractors. I see a lot of old MM letter series tractors end up going for scrap at auction because nobody wants to lose money fixing them up. My hats off to anyone that restores one and gives it a good home! Art
 

AMC-68,
I concur! One can get money buried in a restoration quick without ever coming close to recouping it in selling.
The fella on ebay may have lot of money in it but He'll never get it because to ever hope to get that kind of money from that tractor it would have to be special and or museum quality.
Yet I've poured dollars into mine because they are special to me.
However, I never reveal the real figure because then I would have to explain why I shouldn't be committed. LOL,LOL,LOL.
Tony
 

MMDEL,
Your right and that is probably the case.
However, I find it curious that they would shut off for picture, most would want to show good oil pressure as well as working gauge.
Tony
 
What if Wife said you got to sell that tractor,He don't want to but he's trying'Wife is happy that he's trying to sell it and he'll be happy if he sells it for that price or he'll be happy if no one buys it, so all is HAPPY
 

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