Antique Tractors, Preserve Them For The Future

As we take time to reminisce with friends and family. Some may recollect their childhood, often a time of fewer comforts and harder work. It is funny how what seemed to be such a trying time, now seems like such a peaceful and rewarding time. We often long to return to those days even if only in some small way. Lately I see more and more people letting go of what came before, and I fear and wonder how long will it be before no one cares enough preserve cherished family histories. I feel history is something we all should take a little time each day to share some part of, no matter how small, share it with someone younger than ourselves. Go ahead bore your grandchildren with stories of when grandma or grandpa was a child. It may not impress them today but tomorrow is another story, one day, maybe they will share it with their grandchild. Take the time to restore the old farmhouse, quilt or antique tractor; it is a path leading back to where you came from. Hard work is rewarding as it is reflected in the production of something new that we feel will last forever. I think that is why some hold such strong desires to preserve the past, as many will restore an antique to preserve it for the future. The desire to share what came before serves as a benchmark for the future. Antique tractors are one of the most often preserved items, next only to grandmother’s china. If you don’t feel qualified to do it yourself there are a number of professionals that can perform these services for you, for example, in an antique tractor restoration. Whether it is uncle Henry’s old John Deere or Grandfathers barely broken in Farmall, right down to the fencerow tractor you dragged home. Make it worth the effort, do it right. I recently spoke with Ann Arthurs, from Arthurs Tractors and Dave’s Auto Body in Indiana, Pennsylvania. The Arthurs offer full restoration services for antique tractors. They will do a “true restoration”, which requires a tractor to be broken down into three sections; media blasted, repaired and refinished using high quality paint, along with a complete mechanical restoration. Ann said, “we restore them end to end, top to bottom, and inside out, when it leaves here it is, for lack of a better word, it’s new.” Upon request they will do a “face-lift restoration”, one that is done on a tractor that runs well and just needs a repaint to look good once again. Arthurs Tractors is a full service business that sells parts; new and used, and equipment repairs. www.arthurstractors.com . Remember no matter how much or how little you do to preserve an antique, do it with the best products you can. I feel it is better to do nothing than to do something shoddy. When you hire a professional always get references a “shingle does not a roofer make”. Make sure the references are from people this person has done work for, not his Aunt Susie who thinks he was really cute when he was three years old. Also remember you can usually expect to get what you pay for. Antique tractor shows will be starting soon, with a little luck and a good body shop you may still have a chance of getting the project you have been putting off completed by the end of summer. It may cost more than doing it yourself, but since you are paying to have it done, the restoration shop is obligated to completing it by a prescheduled deadline, where you may allow yourself to put it off for another year or more. Go for it preserve, and enjoy. About the Photos featured This 1937 Minneapolis Moline YT was featured in the Vol VII of the Iron Memories book. The Owners Jerry and Barbara Brammer of Aurora, Texas. Jerry restored the YT to preserve his childhood memory. He played on this tractor as a child and felt it deserved a second chance at life.