[AT] When did you start collecting old tractors?

[rdhaskell]

I started by collecting engines in 1970.  I noticed at the end of the
show day the tractor guys would get on their tractors and have some fun. 
So I started asking around for a tractor for sale.  The first one I
looked at was a '36 JD A.  All four wheels were on the ground, but the
engine was apart with radiator and hood off.  It looked simple enough and
the price was right so I bought it, this was 1984 or '85.  I slowly
cleaned parts and sandblasted the whole thing with a quart hand held sand
blaster.  I attended the first JD Expo in 1986, and when people asked if
I had a tractor I would reluctantly pull out a picture of my A in pieces.
 They would say "Oh, a wide front how rare"  After that I whipped out the
picture with pride. 
Next I bought a JD  LA for my son, and two or three parts LAs for parts. 
A couple of other un styled As came and went to pay for parts.  Then a
'41B JD.   Before I could finish the LA my son discovered cars, so the
LAs were sold.  a couple of MMs appeared a UTS and a UTU, both on
propane.  They hung around a couple of years, then were sold.  A Lindeman
crawler came and went, a BO out of Mexico that was worn out three times
over hung around for a while.  I got a '40 JD H out of Nebraska that
originally came from California, it is still here in pieces ready to go
back together.  Then while my son was away at college in Northern
California he found a nice '46 JD HN that I still have. Next a fellow
teacher said he had a friend that wanted to sell a small red tractor, the
price was low enough to go and look at.  Turned out to be a nice '48
Farmall Cub.  Cutest little thing, use it all the time to move things
around and just to ride on for the grin factor. The last is a '35 JD BO,
the 303rd one made.  It runs but needs to be restored.
Then there are the working tractors, a Kubota L260 and an IH B 275 D that
my son bought to clear his lot to build a house and then sold to me.  Oh
and I have a 1/3 interest in a 1973 Ford 3500 skip loader.
The score stands at:
'35 BO
'36A
'40H
'41B
'46HN
'48Farmall Cub
'7? Kubota L260
'61 IH B275 D

All this and I live in the middle of town on .83 acres.

Ron Haskell
rdhaskell at juno.com
Riverside, California USA
http://picasaweb.google.com/RonHaskell
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