A Tale of Two Tractors

Part of the clean up of the farm means going through stuff in the barns.  As I mentioned in a earlier post, we have two tractors, neither of which run.  One actually belonged to my father-in-law, but he said I could have it, you know, in exchange for building him a new house and all.  My plan was to buy a new tractor at some point, but we want to take care of getting the houses built and making sure we have our financial ducks in a row before making any other big purchases.

A while back, I'd talked to a guy at a local tractor store who I was told likes to buy and fix up old tractors.  I'd told him the make and models of the two tractors and he said he was interested.  We talked a little bit about new tractors that he had in stock and I told him I'd get back to him.  Fast forward a few months and I'm looking at acres of fields that need a serious mowing and my "need" to have a tractor was getting stronger.  I called him up.  He said he'd like to come out to the farm and have a look.

Remember these guys?

I was prepared to sell him both tractors, but I asked him if either of them might be worth fixing until I could buy a new tractor, and if so, which one might be quicker, easier and cheaper to get up and running.  He told me the newer one (the blue 1976 Ford 3600) would be easier to fix up.  We agreed to a selling price for the old tractor (that includes pictures when he finishes restoration) and it pretty much covers the cost to get the newer one up and running.  Neither tractor was doing me any good prior to this, so it's a win-win.  He gets an antique tractor to fix up and I get one that will help me with some chores around the farm for a while.  Later I can sell him the other one (or trade it in) when I get a new one.

So this past Saturday he showed up with a flat-bed tow truck to take them back to his shop.  I'd never seen either tractor outside of their respective places in the two barns.

The old Offset being loaded onto the flatbed.

Sitting proudly.

Neither is very pretty right now, but potential awaits!

He told me that it will take a couple of weeks to get the blue one up and running.  I can't wait!  I've got fields to bush hog.  Speaking of which, there is an old bush hog sitting out in one of the fields, covered in blackberry brambles.  The tractor guy looked it over and pronounced it fit for use.  All I'll have to do once I get the tractor back is hook it up, pull it out of the weeds, check the fluids and fittings and I'll be mowing fields in no time.  Hope springs eternal!