Re: Tractor Restoration business

Posted by ScottyHOMEy on December 10, 2008 at 13:05:39 from (71.241.208.102):

In Reply to: Tractor Restoration business posted by Ken Christopherson on December 10, 2008 at 12:26:43:

Ken, I will never knock anybody looking for work they enjoy. I would, however, caution them to take a realistic look at whether that work will be a money-making proposition.

I don't know how you'd begin to use the search engine here to find them, but there a gazillion posts about how it's difficult to refurbish (never mind restore) a tractor and come out ahead in terms of dollars, even if you don't charge your labor to the project. The typical case starts with the $300 carcass of a Farmall A, adds $1200 just for parts and subbing out the head and crank to get the motor running right, another three or four hundred for bearings and seals here and there, Say $300-500 for nice paint and decals. We're up to $2100-$2500 and haven't even discussed tires, steering wheels, rims, voltage regulators, fan spindles or tin-work. All that for a tractor that might bring $3 grand when done.

OTOH -- I read about these fellas that pay megabucks to have a tractor restored to factory. I think they're a little nuts sometimes, but they are out there and are willing to pay somebody to do it for them. It's largely been a green thing, but my sense is that I'm seeing more of it in the various shades of red and other colors. These guys will not have a hex where a square-head should be, and they won't have a plain square-head where the original was a dot-head. If you've got the skills and the parts sources, and are willing to invest in the tools (as in fabbing parts), manuals and parts catalogs necessary to do that kind of work, there is a market for that. But it will take some time to build a reputation. I can't imagine building that kind of reputation without being able to eat the cost of producing a couple of tractors like that on your own, and eating the cost of taking them out to shows to have as showpieces for the kind of work you can do.

So as far as the restoration scheme, you can make it work, but I wouldn't give up my day job until the business is bringing in enough to keep me sleeping indoors and eating.

As far as repair and maintenance, that's another story, and I'd think it would depend on where you are and whether there is enough call for that kind of work. You could make a decent side business out of it but, unless you're in heavy ag country with a lot of privately owned farms, it'd be tough to make a living solely off of that work. To do well with it I'd think you'd have to have a shop for people to bring stuff to, as well as be willing to work off-site, which means staffing the shop while you're in the field, duplication of tools . . .

This all sounds discouraging, but it is worth looking into. It can be done, but will take a good bit of skill, time, and patience to get either scheme up and running.

The Small Business Administration sponsors classes/seminars for folks thinking about starting up a business that might be useful to you, whether you need a loan from them or not. Maybe call them, and see if they have anything like that scheduled in your area.

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