|
Hello all, I have been following the responses to this initial post with much interest. I would myself like to make a few observations that I hope will help answer some questions and concerns that many seem to have about this and related subjects. I am one of those younger enthusiasts, having been quite active in this hobby in a variety of capacities for over a dozen years. I got into the hobby thanks to my dad, who was a mechanic at tractor dealers around the early 1970s. Dad started collecting antique tractors when I was about 13 years old, and I quickly became interested in them, too. Now, I am 26 years old, and I still enjoy the hobby greatly, and I hope to be involved with it for the rest of my life, Lord willing. When I was first getting into the hobby, I must admit that I was initially alarmed by the seeming lack of young interest in it. I was considered "weird" by many of my peers for liking old tractors and their history. To some, I still am considered weird. But, quite frankly, their opinions don"t upset me, largely because I simply realize that they don"t know or understand what they are missing. To me, the most valuable part of the tractor hobby is not the tractors, but the people who are involved in it. The relationships I have gained--with folks in the 90s all the way down to those in their early teens--have been precious to me. And those enthusiasts who are older than me, and who thus personally lived this history that I enjoy researching so much, have my utmost respect and admiration. I love hearing the old stories told just like they were yesterday. And I"ve tried to share that joy I have with others, by sharing those stories with others through my books. And I just hope it"s made a difference and helped to preserve those precious pieces of our history that otherwise wouldn"t last as long as the machines themselves will. Fortunately, as time as gone by, I"ve come to realize that I"m not so much an odd duck in being young and liking old tractors. I have lots of friends who are around my age who are very active in the hobby, and some in ways that I"m not so active. As much as I love the hobby, I only own two tractors, and neither of them run. I do like getting my hands greasy and working on old tractors, but I don"t have the facilities to do that where I live. And that"s okay. I take what God has graciously given to me, and I"m thankful. Besides, life is about far more than material things, even tractors. Just like the body of Christ, I believe that every person who is a part of the tractor collecting community serves as important role, whether young, older, or middle-aged; whether rich, poor, or with a "middle-income"; whether they have one tractor, a few, many, hundreds, or, yes, even none; whether a mechanic, a tractor puller, a researcher, or anything else. For any group or person to belittle others just because they aren"t exactly like oneself is careless, unproductive, and even hateful. We may not always understand each other, but I believe that we should always try, and we should always respect each other despite what differences we have. Remember that we all have at least one thing in common--we like old tractors. And I am confident that we have much more than that in common, too. Now, as some have said, the UDLX in question is being advertised with an asking price of $180,000. Whether someone wants to pay that much for one is their own business, and I am not going to call anyone crazy--whether the buyer or the seller. It"s their money, and they can do as they please. As for me, I wouldn"t have paid $45,000 seven years ago for a UDLX even if I had that kind of money. I don"t need one; it"s as simple as that. And I somehow doubt that anyone out there really needs a UDLX nowadays. People are paying what they are paying for them simply because they want one, or at least that"s the way I see it. One thing I think is interesting that no one has brought up is, if you"re going to have a tractor, you need to have one that YOU like and enjoy and get some sort of benefit from. I was fortunate enough to get the drive the UDLX that is on the cover of my _Illustrated Buyer"s Guide: Minneapolis-Moline Tractors_. And, as much as I appreciated the opportunity and the experience, I decided that a UDLX was definitely not for me. Let"s just say that they were not designed for someone who"s about 6"3" tall... Finally, as to the asking price of UDLXs, I don"t know what will happen. If they break $1,000,000.00, though, I will be somewhat surprised. I was only slightly surprised when they started bringing over $100,000, and I won"t be too surprised if they bring much more than that. And, just to clear the air on UDLX prices now vs. when they were new, UDLXs were bringing over $2,100 when new, which was VERY pricey for a tractor in the late 1930s. But at about that same time, a regular UTU on rubber was bringing just over $1,300. BTW, the UOPN Open Roadster was bringing over $1,700. So, the $180,000 is about 80 times more than when new (using the exact figures). But remember the tractor hasn"t sold for that price yet, so far as I am aware. And, no, the $180,000 wouldn"t have been equal to (or more than) MM"s total receipts for all the Comfortractors, assuming they all sold for list price. I hope I haven"t stepped on anyone"s toes here. I wasn"t out to offend anyone or to "point fingers"; on the contrary, I was simply hoping to help calm the situation and put some people"s minds at ease on a couple of issues. Take care, have a good one, and here"s wishing you all tbe best. Respectfully, Brian Rukes
|
