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Last Night's Debate

D

Dave in GA

Member
Last night I got into a debate with a friend who's mortified at seeing old tractors at the shows that are dirty, rusty, and are still in their original clothes. He feels that if you're going to bother taking them to a show to impress people, they should be restored and freshly painted. I tend to disagree. My oldies are all still original which means rusty, greasy, muddy, and not much paint left. But they run well. Personally, I like to see all kinds at the shows.
 
Lol. I thought you were referring to the Crook And Moron Show. I agree with you, bring what you got regardless.
 
If I've seen one restored Farmall H, M, etc or one John Deere A, B, etc, I've seen a thousand. Yes, I'm glad they were all saved as part of our agriculture heritage, but they all look the same to me. Now, show me a nice well kept original that is 75 years old still in its work clothes, and that is the one I am going to show most interest and appreciation in. Just my opinion though........
 
(quoted from post at 14:08:48 10/10/16) Last night I got into a debate with a friend who's mortified at seeing old tractors at the shows that are dirty, rusty, and are still in their original clothes. He feels that if you're going to bother taking them to a show to impress people, they should be restored and freshly painted. I tend to disagree. My oldies are all still original which means rusty, greasy, muddy, and not much paint left. But they run well. Personally, I like to see all kinds at the shows.
Click to expand...

My main puller is a farm-find Oliver 990. All I did was pull the ugly cab off of it, and fix the mechanical issues; no painting whatsoever. It's not a particularly impressive tractor to look at, but most of the crowds love it when I turn the beast loose! (it is straight piped!)

I also pulled with a painted John Deere R this summer. The comments I got were not about the paint job; they were about how well it knuckled down and lugged.

From personal experience, I would say your friend is in the minority.
 
Yes I know of a JD B that is a 6 speed hand crank and it starts on a first pull of the fly wheel. It has always been stored in the dry and it shows it. The original paint is still very good and the dealers sticker is still on it.It is for sale and if I was 20 years younger I would own that tractor. I always like to see original tractors and also I like the restored ones. I dare any one to find fault with any of ACG's tractors. They are so nice they would make a nonbeliever want one of them LOL
 
You and me both. There just aren't very many nice originals left. It's a shame to see any more of them restored unless they're a total wreck.
 

Basically it all depends on the machine. I picked up a few STRAIGHT tractors that have been well taken car of.
Those you would like to leave alone.. Then I've bought a few that need sheet metal replaced, because of RUST or
better sheet metal installed. Those end up looking like a spotted adder if you don't tear them down & do it right.
To me a old machine that is smashed up from one end to the other needs something done to them. Even if it gets only
one ding per year, for some of these that's 75 dents. Where to start & where to quit, but a Great straight Original
Tractor will ALWAYS catch my eye....
 
Old Scovy, I have 5 of those little Allis model "G" tractors and I think they are really something. Happy farming.
 
Anice well preserved ORIGINAL tractor is always nice to see. That being said, a cobbled up piece of junk that someone just brought to the show so they didn't have to pay admission is something else.
 
I will say both tell and interesting story. The "restored" show the owners thought on how they want their tractor to look. The "fresh off the farm work clothes" tell about the life the tractor has seen. I like to look at both. My 300 was meticulously done from paint to bolts. I also have an original H bought from the original owner that will stay that way. Yes it it rusty,no it doesn't look like it just came off the dealers lot, but thats what makes it unique, complete with the original dealers decals. No right or wrong way to show them in my opinion.
 
My 3 are in their work clothes and earn their keep all the time. 52 8N, 51 VAC, 42 JD H.
I have seen enough super shiny ones that don't do what they were built to do.
Richard
 
We have a Farmall C with a woods mower under it, so it cuts some grass but twice in July it gets a bath and goes to the parade in town! I cleaned it up and painted it after I retired, I didn't restore it, just tried to make it look somewhat like new, including decals. I did not paint it with a mop and paint the spark plug wires like I have seen some others do.
 
Il like them both ways but you know when you encounter an original tractor you tend to stare longer. They are more intriguing.
 
I don't care about a paint job but I do like looking at tractors better if they aren't all beat up and leaking from everywhere.
 
I really appreciate an nice original tractor. A little farmer ingenuity from years past doesn't hurt either. A tractor that had five different shades of paint all in stages of peeling off, might as well get stripped and redone. Just look at the rat rod crowd, they are trying to make something look old and original. Remember, paint don't pull!
 
I can find a painted tractor any day of the week! Try to find a NICE ORIGINAL is VERY HARD They are only original ONCE!
a239764.jpg
 
The tractors I spend the most time checking out at shows are the ones that are obviously used now and then. The trailer queens that have perfect paint even around the drawbar hole don't get much more than a passing glance from me. Don't get me wrong - I admire the work and investment necessary to bring tractors like this to their better-than-new condition. But, my own antique tractors bring me the most enjoyment when I'm actually using them for real work and this carries over to what I like looking at most at shows.
 
I have four tractors that are fully restored. I also have some that are nice original and they will stay that way. One of these is a 1930 Case L it is very straight and rusty. It is one of my favorites because it runs so well. Most people are surprised it even runs. I have some rare ones that will be restored because that is the only way they will run again. Steve
 
I like the rusty patina. It makes a tractor stand out at a show. They are only original once. I picked up this 1940 9n from the original owner He was still plowing the garden with it 4 years ago. He is now 90 years old and can't get up on the tractor or he probably wouldn't have sold it. It's still in its original work clothes. Tin is all straight with no rust thru, smooth hubs, and 4 spoke steering wheel. The aluminum grill was replaced in about 1944. Came with original bill of sale and manuals also a ferguson single bottom plow that was bought with the tractor. I'm thinking I might not paint this one.
I went to my clubs tractor show last month and bought a rusty old '41 9n with me. I had some folks looking at it and asking questions,which surprised me cause I was parked right next to a 1939 with the aluminum hood that got most of the attention.

Kirk
100_4543_zpsajea8dgr.jpg
 
I like both ways. A nicely restored to off the line condition is nice. What I don't like are the ones that have the $3000 paint job and the owners have them roped off so you can't get within 20'. And heaven forbid you ask if you can take a picture with your kid sitting in the seat.
I don't like to see them dripping oil but if they are washed with a dent or 2 that's OK with me. the kids can look them over and maybe grow interested.
 
I have a farmall C with a 6 foot belly mowet. Good paint and decals. She is a dirty working girl. Love the way yard looks after she's done. No parades. I'm too busy.
 
Maybe they are not taken to the shows to impress people but to show them in all manner of conditions. I always liked to be around my dad when he was farming and the smell of honest sweat permeated the air. Same with old tractors-they earned their wear and tear and unique smells.
 
I like to see nicely restored to original new condition tractors, not super expensive paint jobs and big new tires trying to hide many defects or non original alterations and modifications. I also like to see used, worked hard, but well kept originals. Cobbled up and rusted out junk does not belong at tractor shows though, no matter who in the family may have owned the thing in the past IMHO.
 
I too like them both ways. And don't especially like the over restored paint jobs either. As for the dirt and rust, it is OK even good as long as the tractor isn't being left out in the weather to rust away. If it is stored inside or under cover so the original sheet metal doesn't rust away OK, if not a paint job is in order. Even if being used, especially if some unusual or rare, an antique tractor should be preserved one way or another.
 
I like a nicely well done restoration. I despise a "Dupont restoration" but I prefer a nice clean original overall.
 
I like seeing restored and unrestored tractors at shows. Also I think if you are going to bring something to show, wash it a little bit to get some of the years of dirt,grease and bird crap off.
 
I don't like the pristine show queens. I like the semi restored ones that shows the time and effort spent bringing it back to how it was originally, no leaks, over spray, brush strokes or paint on top of dents and grease. I like farmer modifications, the kind where you got to scratch your head and wonder if that was a factory job or farmer fad, not the torched off jagged iron welded on squanchwise kind.
I like a nice clean original and solid rusty ones don't interest me a bit.
 
I like that a lot! A few years ago,I went to the National Oliver Show. There were probably 300 Olivers there at least. The one that I still remember over all the rest was an unrestored 66. It wasn't super rusty,but it was all there and the patina on every piece of sheet metal was the same. If it wasn't well cared for,somebody went way out of their way to search the boneyards to find parts that matched that well.
 
(quoted from post at 00:38:39 10/11/16) ...That being said, a cobbled up piece of junk that someone just brought to the show so they didn't have to pay admission is something else.
Click to expand...

Do you really think anyone is loading a tractor on a trailer, chaining it down with binders, then pulling a heavy trailer behind a fuel hog truck for any notable distance, and yet their cost to do all that is cheaper than the miniscule admission fee to the show?

Rusty, shiny, cobbled, makes no difference to me as I like to view em all. Glad people show all variety's.
 
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