Picture of U302, whats it worth?

I was asking about this tractor the other day, it is listed in the auction as needing engine work, well that seems to be an understatement, as it is torn down, crank has been exposed for a long time, and appears to have spun a bearing, nothing inside of engine is rust free, so a complete overhaul is a positive statement. The auction is this Saturday, so give me a ballpark whats it worth. It seems like it was showing 2500 hours on it.

Anyway, I paid $500.00 for my JetStar in very similiar condition this past August. It now RUNS, but I have a clutch problem that I need to get straight then I can move forward fixing other things on the tractor.

However, I can tell you about what it might cost to get it back into shape. Over the past few months I bought all of my parts and rebuilt the engine. You will spend $1000.00 on engine parts.. pistons, rings, gaskets, bearings, etc. Then you will spend another $500.00 on having the crank turned, blocks bored, Heads done. Add another $100 to that number if you have to replace all the valves. The $500 includes all the fluids, tune-up items, etc. I bought all of my parts from Welters or NAPA.

I went with new .040 over pistons and rings. I had the crank turned .010 under and got the appropriate main and rod bearings.

I now have about $2,000.00 total in my tractor including the cost of the tractor itself. Its been a fun project so far. I will spend another $700 to $800 on it to complete it. I still need new tires, paint, seat and some misc. stuff. In the end, I will have about $3000 in it. I do not think that is too bad a price for this type of tractor. I will at least know WHAT I HAVE.

Phil

I had to take the crank to another shop as my NAPA shop does not turn cranks anymore. (Too busy to mess with them.) The crank was $100.00 - normally, they charge $125.00. However, I called them up on the phone and described what I had to the shop. He originally quoted me $65.00 (That's the normal price for a regular crank). When I dropped it off I was told that it wasnt quite what he had expected and that they normally get $125.00, but since he quoted me $65, he'd give me a break on the price and was $100 fair. (The prices were posted on the wall.. so he was still giving me a deal.)

My local NAPA shop that I work with is pretty fair on prices. He does a good job as far as I am concerned. Last set of heads he did for me cost me $175.00 for everything. I had to supply the valves, but they were only $10.00 and $15.00 each. He came up with the guides and seats. Those were the blocks for my RTI that he did a valve job on. Not the JetStar. I decided to run what I have for awhile on the Jet. Everything looked good and appeared to seal well, so I elected to not do a valve job on it right now. Its running and seems to run well - so far.

Phil

If you want a really nice original 66' U302 super... Call Jenning's Implement in Bement, Illinois. Last time I was down there they had a gem of a U302. I think it was around the upper 3000s or low 4000s...???