Business Restores Vintage Antique Tractors

Business Restores Vintage Antique Tractors TRACTORS Antiques 17-2-33 Your readers may be interested in our business of restoring vintage antique tractors. We have three full-time employees and have rebuilt over 100 tractors since we started business in 1988. We have customers from as far away as North Dakota, Michigan, Ohio, New York, etc., as well as Canada. We can work on any tractor, no matter its age or condition, and we can arrange for pickup and delivery. We also buy or sell tractors if you're looking for a certain make or model. We do both cosmetic and mechanical work, depending on what the customer wants. Some of the tractors we work on are mechanically good and need only a new paint job. Others people want their tractors to not only look as good as new, but to work as good as new, especially if they're participating in antique threshing shows or parades. We can rebuild all electrical units including generators, starters, magnetos, distributors, as well as rebuild carburetors and do rewiring. We can also overhaul the engine, transmission, final drives, and steering systems. In general, the cost for cosmetic repairs is $4,000 to $7,000 (Canadian). Restoring a tractor's mechanical ability can cost up to $12,000. We just restored a pair of Deere D's with over 100 hours of mechanical work on each at a cost of over $20,000 apiece. We rebored the front axles and installed new kingpins, differential gears, fuel tanks, and radiators. We even had to have some parts built for it. The pistons were seized so we had to put the engine in a hydraulic press and push them out. We also had to make a cast center for one of the steel wheels. Steam shows don't want steel wheel tractors driving around chewing up the grass, so we installed transport bands on the front wheels. There are other people who do mechanical work on antique tractors, but as far as we know no one else does complete restoration work including both mechanical and cosmetic work. We bring the tractor to show-room condition. (Frank Henke, owner, Signature Restoration, Rt. 1, Cavan, Ontario, Canada LOA 1CO (ph 705 277-1680)

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