[AT] Something to do

[STEVE ALLEN]

Just two local data points that might be of use to you, Spencer.

I don't really look too hard for tractor sales hereabouts, but one is quite close to me, and the other one I bought.

The first is a late JD G w/starter and lights and the battery under the seat.  Here is the description:
SELLING DUE TO HEALTH  
John Deere G runs and drives very well, tractor is running in pictures, big nut carb, Roll a matic front end,  Firestone 13.6-38 rears, 6.50-16 good years on front, good brakes, lights work, has distributor  and fenders. The tractor charges and has good oil pressure. Old restoration, had new lights, battery box, steering wheel, seat, gauges, and tires were all new at restoration a few years back. 
Tractor is MISSING SERIAL # TAG!!!  PRICE IS FIRM!
The pics suggest the "few years back" is probably closer to 10, and it was not "Expo Quality" at that point.  The price is $5,500, which strikes me as pretty high for what it is.  It has been on the local sale site for about a month now.

The other is the '51 JD A I bought back in March.  Not exactly close by but still in MO.  Price was $1250, and I suspect you remember the various discussions we've had here about my problems with it.  After a couple months of work and several more hundreds of dollars, it is a pretty reliable tractor, but it still needs some leaks chased down.  (I have discovered that the loss of coolant is the rubber section of the upper water pipe--an easy enough fix, I suppose.)  It hardly approximates the tractors you are asking about in NC, but it does show a low-end selling price for a machine that was advertised as having been "semi-restored and lovingly cared for."  Ahem.

FWIW, YMMV, Caveat Emptor.


The "original" Steve Allen