What to do with them?

Always been more of a user than a collector or restoration buff......but recently dipped my toes in the restoration waters by bringing back to life a D15 Allis after a 20 year rest. I did it to get a user to put to work.

Attempts to find the parts I needed has made me realize the inherent value of all those junk tractors I see on farms all over. They are NOT junk.....rather they are valuable resources, but only in the right hands. Valuable to the point I've started to take note of what I see and where I see it. Case, Moline, Olivers, Allis, etc, all of them are sitting around out there. Somebody probably wants and needs them.....either for restoration themselves or to part them out for something else.

But how would a guy like me make use of the fact that I know where an old tractor is? I have no place to store them and I'm not going to start a salvage yard.

So, you are thinking of a little business on the side to make some money but someone else owns and stores the inventory? If
so, you want the best of both worlds being a middle man. I'm sure some YT'ers will have some suggestions, I can't think of
any to be honest. Would it really be worthwhile all the time and effort? Remember that a LOT of parts on a tractor are
seldom looked for, or easily removed, or in good enough condition to remove and sell. And finally, the guy who owns the
tractor right now, does he want a hulk on his property with all the good parts stripped?

When I first got in to tractors restoration there was not such thing as an internet. I to made note where old tractors where and yes did knock on doors and ask people. Mostly the farmers had tractors in a flied so they could use the spare parts in fixing some of there tractors they where using in farming. Most of them would not sell parts. This internet is a important key for guy's like me because I do not waste my time and gasoline in driving around asking for parts to buy. I just go on the internet and locate parts now. the problem lies in a thought like this is the coast of the part. Most big business have started up on the internet with good parts and a warrantee. these places on the internet can get you any thing now in tractor parts and it is not like it was back in the 1990's. Back in the 1990's I had four tractor places listed to get parts from. Now I have a list of 50 places to get parts from including tractor places back east. Every thing I buy has shipping added to it and I do not have to find shipping for it the business does it for me. The problem is you can not complete with this internet. Talk to the people who own those tractors. you know what they will say (I plan to restore it some day) L.O.L. I hear that all the time.

If any of them are for sale then maybe you could tell a local tractor salvage yard about them and get a finders fee ?

First...just because you see them on farms does not mean they are available for a reasonable price or at all. I get approached frequently about this and, honestly, my first reaction is mind your own business. Those are my projects waiting for me to dispose of. I don't want/need and did not ask for your help/trespass.

Second...not sure there is as much money there as you think.

Don't want to sound like a mean guy but people walking up the lane looking to make money are not high on my list. All these picker shows where they knock on the door and "surprise" someone who already has it all worked out with the producers don't help the matter either.

(quoted from post at 08:22:23 01/03/19) [b:7fce542a50]So, you are thinking of a little business on the side to make some money but someone else owns and stores the inventory?[/b:7fce542a50] If
so, you want the best of both worlds being a middle man. I'm sure some YT'ers will have some suggestions, I can't think of
any to be honest. Would it really be worthwhile all the time and effort? Remember that a LOT of parts on a tractor are
seldom looked for, or easily removed, or in good enough condition to remove and sell. And finally, the guy who owns the
tractor right now, does he want a hulk on his property with all the good parts stripped?

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I'm not looking to start a business or make money off it. I've become really good at not making money off stuff like this. :roll:

My interest is mainly in seeing to it what might be a valuable find for someone doesn't end up getting sold by the pound to some scrap yard when the equipment itself, or parts from it, have value to someone. Before I found out the hard way what the value of salvage parts are, I would not have cared myself. Now I do.

I know a lot of the older folks who parked this equipment in a fence row or barn would not sell. But their kids who want it gone might. Especially if they think it is going to be used in a positive way. And no......not the good stuff stripped off it where it sits, leaving the junk for them to clean up.

BTW, I'm not out driving around looking. My business takes me to these farms. Behind the house, through the back lots....down the fencerows....into the barns and sheds. I've seen them parked there for years. Combines too. One barn I can remember had a really nice Gleaner E, with two platform heads and 2 row corn head. It also had a pair of All Crops....a 60 and 66, both in operating condition and both with spare canvas. Dad wouldn't sell, but kids wanted them gone after dad died.

That kind of stuff.

You can make a list for your own reference if you like. The way antique tractor prices are falling, I'm not sure there is much demand left for pre-1960's parts machines. Thanks to the restoration hobby, a lifetime supply of running tractors in working condition and restored tractors are available for a fraction of the cost to fix one up.

In the past, collectors have seemed to balk at paying anything over 1 1/4 times salvage/scrap price for the most common fence row tractors . Younger people look at restored antique tractors like we look at a restored Model T Ford, "interesting, but I don't need or want one". Maybe you think things will change soon?

If you can't store them on you own property then forget it,couple 3 reasons they are still out where someone can see them easily.1)owner won't sell
2)No demand in your area 3)Any parts worth anything are long gone at least that is the way it is in my area.I have a good number of parts tractors I keep on hand in case I need parts for the ones I'm running,every so often I get a 'picker' that thinks he's found the mother lode of unwanted tractors.Nope but no harm in asking.As I tell most of them it'll be easy to get any tractor I own just outlive me and come to my auction(LOL)

Good point Dave. There is a local guy here who I'm told was in one of those programs up here. He supposedly sold something to the picker for the TV program but it didn't really happen in real life. Everyone that knew him knew that he never lets anything go, all pretty collectible stuff and he's not in the business of selling his collections. But he got on the program which was interesting and maybe a bit of an achievement, not sure.

I think some of you got the wrong message. I think the op found out how hard it was to find parts
for his tractor when restoring. He feels that a lot of us are or will be in the same boat someday. He
doesn?t want to make money on them. He just knows where there are a lot of old tractors around
that if someone can?t store them will end up going to scrap.
My suggestion would be to ask if it?s for sale, what price, and ask if they are I a hurry to remove.
Tell them you would like to see someone use the parts rather than scrap. If possible you can let
people know what is out there at what price. Someone may need it.

I personally have outdoor storage and have thought of paying scrap price now store at my place
with asking price on each item. If someone wants it pass the money to the owner. Kind of like a
museum with owners name on it but for sale at said price till he dies then it?s mine. Im not sure it
would work but don?t like to see them get melted.

Again, keep in mind, I'm not a picker driving around and knocking on doors. I'm usually there by invitation for a different reason. Discovery of this equipment is often by accident and owners may or may not be interested in keeping or selling. Often as not, the owners are the kids of a deceased parent who may or may not care what happens to it, and likely as not, it is only a few pieces. Not nearly enough to hold an auction.

But based on the assessment you guys are offering, this does present a dilemma......a barn find or potential parts tractor is not worth anything, because even if fixed up or used to fix up another, that one is not worth anything either.

BTW, you get no argument from me on that. I do have as much in the D15 as I could sell it for. But financial investment isn't what motivated me.

So the logical conclusion when I find something like my barn find D15.....with good engine, rubber and sheet metal....is to recommend to the owners they do world a favor and call the scrap yard? If measured by a net money yardstick, that is exactly what should happen to all of them?

So circling back to my original question, since I'm not going to get involved myself, it appears my options to help out are limited. The ones I can think of are:

1. Keep some business cards from the salvage yards and used equipment lots that might be interested in them. I can think of three or four, and there may be others. I also know of a few collectors of various brands. Put the bug in the owner's ear and leave it at that.

2. Advise the owners it might have value and if they want to see it saved or put to good use they should put it on Craigslist so if anyone is looking for one, it can be found.

3. Keep quiet and let nature take it's course.

The latter would be a bitter pill to swallow.......seeing some piece of classic old iron cut up for scrap and sent to China, but perhaps that is what should happen to them.

A couple of brothers in a town about 8 miles from me were on the Pickers show. They are pretty much buyers, not sellers, but they had to agree to some sales if they wanted to be on the show. "Scripted" and "fake" come to mind.

I made pretty good side money in the 1990s parting out some tractors. The trouble is now the older fence row stuff your talking about just does not move like it used to. So your looking at a slower moving inventory of pre1970 tractors parts.

Good for you if you can get ahold of a few them the
problem around here is the owners will not sell then
they die and the kids send it to the scrap yard where
the people that work there grab it with a giant claw
or magnet and throw it in a pile destroying the thing

CJ ..... so you think this poster is just doing it as a jolly good fellow and is willing to spend his time and effort to make sure old tractors are put to use or find a good home (and isn't worried if he makes any money or not)? Hmmm, that's not the way I see it. If that's the case, he's one in a million. Your idea in the last paragraph would really be interesting to see happen. You'd be one in ten million.

Its TV right? You think John Wayne really shot and killed Richard Boone and Hugh O'Brien in The Shootist?(LOL)

Another illusion shattered!

Years ago, while I was working full time, I started doing that with n fords. People stole more parts off
me while I was at work than I sold. It was easier to haul them to the scrap yard than deal with n ford
owners.

(quoted from post at 13:37:34 01/03/19) CJ ..... so you think this poster is just doing it as a jolly good fellow and is willing to spend his time and effort to make sure old tractors are put to use or find a good home (and isn't worried if he makes any money or not)? Hmmm, that's not the way I see it. If that's the case, he's one in a million. Your idea in the last paragraph would really be interesting to see happen. You'd be one in ten million.

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Maybe NOT one in a million, but I've been told more than once that I'm one of a kind.

Of the two assessments of my motivation, CJ has it right. That is it in a nutshell. I'm just not sure how to go about sharing the news that such a piece of equipment has been found with someone who might want it. Perhaps that was my mistake? Assuming somebody cared or might want it? If so, perhaps the scrapyard IS the best place for them?

(quoted from post at 15:26:53 01/03/19) Years ago, while I was working full time, I started doing that with n fords. People stole more parts off
me while I was at work than I sold. It was easier to haul them to the scrap yard than deal with n ford
owners.

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In my brief foray into the world of restoration, I've encountered the same. On one occasion, I posted some progress news about parts that had been replaced. Unknown to me, there was a lurker/poster who new where the shop was and within 24 hours of my post, without my knowledge or consent, showed up at that shop to liberate it of the used parts. Claimed they had my consent, so shop let em go.

Challenged ethics so low it would make the TV pickers and Scrooge look like choir boys. I've also noticed that in may of these collector hobbies, guys will gladly steal something from an uninformed seller for a song, then gloat about it. The TV pickers.....contrived as it may be.....do that. Or beat them up on their price, then gloat. Repugnant is the word for that.

Easy to paint everyone with a broad brush....like the old joke that it's only 99% of lawyers that give the rest a bad name. But it only takes a few examples like that to get out before all sellers start painting everyone with a broad brush. I'm convinced that is why a lot of guys will find doors slammed in their face. They are paying for the sins of others.

I've been called one in a million before. Even had a few people tell me I'm not normal. I would do it in a heart beat, as money I don't have and never will. I was asked once if I would keep the income I had or take a job that paid 3 times as much. Told him if I could make ends meet I'd rather do what I like till I die instead of making more money and not enjoying what I do. I try to work part time and farm a little and enjoy life. I love looking at ads as much as some people spend time on this forum. Would advertise for people for free just for the fun of it if I could.

(quoted from post at 17:05:37 01/03/19) A couple of brothers in a town about 8 miles from me were on the Pickers show. They are pretty much buyers, not sellers, but they had to agree to some sales if they wanted to be on the show. "Scripted" and "fake" come to mind.

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So, did they actually sell some things or did they just "let on" that they sold?