Old Barn Houses New Toy Tractor Factory

Old Barn Houses New Toy Tractor Factory FARM HOME Toys/Games 8-6-19 "Toying with tractors" has turned into a full-time profession for South Dakotans Dennis and Joan Parker, of Volga. They've converted an old barn into a toy factory that not only manufactures new toy tractors but also specializes in providing hard-to-find replacement parts for antique toy tractors. The Parkers do the work themselves, except for hiring help to do the casting of new parts out of aluminum salvaged from old automobile transmission cases. "This makes each part a little cheaper than it would be if cast out of aluminum," explains Dennis, who for the past 15 years has been an avid collector of toy tractors. Joan handles the Parker's growing mail order business of selling replacement for old toy tractors. She can provide many new pieces for toy tractors right from her stock supply. If she doesn't have the needed parts on hand, or can't get them, Dennis makes them. "All I need to know insending out the correct part is the make, model number and year," she points out. Parker-built, all-metal toy tractors are 1/16 scale. They're sand cast aluminum with machined and formed steel parts. Prices range from $225 for a 1937 John Deere A; $165 for a 1955 Farmall Super M; $150 for a 1938 Allis-Chalmers WC, 1956 Case 400 and a 1938 John Deere D; and $100 for a 1959 replica of a Minneapolis Moline UBE. For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Dennis and Joan Parker, Rt. 2, Box 72, Volga, S. Dak. 57071 (ph 605 983-5987).

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