Should Antique Tractors be Judged at Shows

Over the years I have heard many antique tractor collectors talk about the number of awards and trophies their antique tractor has received at tractor shows. There was a time when collectors described themselves as being “true to their colors” and would bad-mouth another tractor, if it didn’t wear the same insignia as their favorite brand. The current trend among collectors is to respect all antique tractors, no matter what name is on the hood. Collectors often tell me, that they won’t even attend a show that judges tractors on which one looks the best. Today’s collector holds respect for all antique tractors, restored or non-restored. One collector told me that he has been impressed with more than one tractor that has not been touched by paint since it left the factory. Since more and more history is rusting away, or meeting it’s fate with the smelter, the desire to keep history from becoming extinct, has more people realizing they have to pull together to keep this from happening. Respect for the antique tractor and its restorer is currently receiving higher praise, and less and less who’s tractor is better restored, or who spent more money on their restoration. Why the change? In today’s disposable society, millions of people feel it is okay to simply throw things away when you become tired of them, without regard to history. Lack of respect for quality and craftsmanship, make the cheap and imitation acceptable. Antique tractor collectors hold a high regard for quality and craftsmanship. They can see past the rust and the fact that it doesn’t have a GPS, or power steering. Many collectors do their own restoration work to preserve and respect the work preformed, not by robotic machines, but by craftsmen, long ago. Some may not be as skilled as another but their desire is just as strong. They too are craftsmen, just as if they had designed the original. Lack of respect for antiques is like disrespect for ones own grandparents, after all aren’t they your, new tractors, grandparents. Do you feel antique tractors should be judged? If so, why? If not, why? Some say leave the judging to the tractor pull, you have a measurement there!