[AT] tractor restoration lessons wanted

[Mike Sloane]

Four other additions to George's list would be:

"How to Rebuild and Restore Farm Tractor Engines" Spencer Yost, 
Motorbooks International ISBN 0-7603-0661-3

"How to restore Classic Farm Tractors" Tharran F: Gaines, Voyageur Press 
ISBN 0-89658-466-0

"How to restore your Farm Tractor" Robert N. Pripps, Motorbooks 
International ISBN 0-87938-593-6
	
"How To Restore Classic Farmall Tractors: The Ultimate Do-it-Yourself 
Guide to Rebuilding and Restoring" by Tharran E Gaines

All of the above were available new from <www.amazon.com> as of this 
morning, both new and used, for under $15. While I always recommend 
Spencer's books first for personal reasons, Gaines' books are also 
excellent. All of these books are very good starting points, but, as 
others have pointed out, you learn a lot just by doing. One thing to 
point out is that there is often no one "right" way to do things, just 
he one that works out best for you.

My personal recommendation is to choose a smaller tractor to start with 
and one that still has good parts availability. A larger tractor will 
require a lot more muscle to handle the parts, and an "orphan" model 
will be frustrating due to critical pieces made of "unobtanium". To that 
end, I would suggest tractors like the Ford N series, Farmall Cub/A/C, 
John Deere A/B/M, Allis Chalmers B/C (and that list is in pretty much my 
order, only because of cost and availability of parts - they are ALL 
fine machines and worthy of restoration). Not that there is anything 
wrong with any of the others you will see around, but if you start with 
one of the easy ones, there is less chance that you will become 
frustrated and give up in disgust.

With all of the tractors you may find, it is hard for a novice to get a 
feel for whether it might be worth the investment in time and money. If 
it is running, that is a HUGE advantage, but sometimes "ran when parked" 
can be the beginnings of a great project (or a complete nightmare). 
Remember that some things, like rear tires, can cost as much as you paid 
for the machine to replace, yet a "stuck" engine can sometimes be 
brought back to life with just a little time and patience (and the right 
"magic potion" placed in the cylinders. These days, the most powerful 
ally you can bring to the search is a digital camera and an Internet 
album - take a lot of images of the prospective machine and post it on 
your album and send us a note to tell us about it. You will get more 
advice than you can probably use, but it might save you from a tragic 
mistake. Take a look at <www.fotki.com/mikesloane> for an example.

The most important thing is to ask questions and don't be afraid of 
seeming foolish - we ALL started out knowing nothing. Some folks were 
fortunate to have friends/neighbors/relatives to guide them, but others 
(like me) had to start "from scratch" and learn on the way. Rule no. 1 
for ATIS is that there are no "dumb" questions.

By the way, you might have noticed that sometimes the members get 
carried away with side conversations that have little or nothing to do 
with the subject at hand - this is just good natured banter and can be 
safely ignored (or contributed to, as the situation warrants). If you 
should select a tractor for which there is a special ATIS list (Farmall, 
Ford/Ferguson, John Deere, etc), it might be beneficial to join that 
list and post your comments there. There are also dozens of Internet 
sites and forums, as well as Yahoo Groups for antique tractors of 
different kinds. I belong to several of them, but quite frankly, the 
most knowledgeable responses will come from ATIS. I have often seen 
advice given at some other sources that was simply downright wrong.

I would be remiss if I failed to comment on safety. Restoring an old 
farm tractor requires working with chemicals and equipment that, if used 
improperly can result in serious injury or even death. Follow the safety 
advice given, work slowly and carefully, and if something doesn't feel 
right, step back and think it through. It is better to lose a day while 
you rig up a better support for a situation than have something fall on 
you and cause injury.

Mike



George Willer wrote:
> It's hard to imagine all these replies without a mention of Spencer Yost's
> books.  (the owner of this list) Probably the best to begin with would be
> his 'Antique Tractor Bible'.  ISBN 0-7603-0335-5
> 
> It may be out of print since it was published in 1998, but it would be worth
> a search for a used copy.
> 
> Another that's only geared toward those green things is 'How To Restore Your
> JOHN DEERE Two Cylinder Tractor'
> 
> I have autographed copies of both.  :-) 
> 
> George Willer