Gauteng Smallholder December/ January 2018 | Page 45

TRACTORS
How they restore oldies overseas
R
estoring old tractors is
big business in the UK,
Europe and North
America, with active networks
of vintage and veteran owners
swopping and trading parts,
advice, service manuals and
tips, and modern manufactur-
ers even turning out hard-to-
come-by parts using old jigs.
Not that the restored
machines get to do much
work, mind you, because
after all the toil and sweat
they're far too precious to
actually dirty their wheels.
Rather, they're used for
weekend “road runs” in
convoys around the country-
side, or simply for show.
And many are not owned or
operated by farmers, but are
lovingly restored in suburban
garages by enthusiasts who
may have themselves grown
up in the country, or who
have simply come to love the
old machines.
So how does a restoration
project in the UK (for
example) often start? First
prize is a “barn find”, a
tractor that has been pushed
into the corner of some
farmer's barn and over the
years become covered with
hay and dust. Rats will
probably have eaten all the
wiring and hoses but in other
respects the finder hopes that
the machine has been
preserved from the worst of
the English weather.
Top prize on a barn find is
that the tractor has its
identification plate still
attached, with its serial
number, which gives the new
owner the ability to trace its
build year and licensing
details. And ultimate top
prize is if the seller still has a
drawer full of old papers
pertaining to the machine,
What they
look for to
restore in the
UK:
Left - a
“barn find”
Right - a
“hedgerow
find.
43
www.sasmallolder.co.za
the original purchase invoice,
service history, owner's
manual etc.
Next best is a “hedgerow
find” where the tractor has
been pushed, often not
working any more, into a
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