Vintage Small Engine Parts Specialist
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Small engine owners ordering parts from iSaveTractors know they are getting well-tested products. Company owner Norman Ng has used every product he sells in his own vintage small engines. He has more than 50 engines that he has rebuilt. Some power the collection of garden tractors he uses on his 8 acres.
“We use our machines daily in every weather condition, 365 days a year,” says Ng. “Tested products have been worked hard.”
He has restored about 15 garden tractors for his own collection and about 10 for customers. As the parts business has grown, the restoration sideline has been set aside.
iSaveTractors was started when Ng couldn’t find parts for his first garden tractor restoration about 4 years ago. His then 2-year old son Lucas was born deaf and had just received cochlear implants.
“The restoration was a way to work with him to help him understand language,” says Ng. “Some of his first words were engine part names.”
He reports the project worked, and no one would know his son was born deaf from the way he talks. The project also opened Ng up to the frustrations of not finding parts for small Kohler engines. He began using his computer skills to reverse engineer and design hard-to-find parts and then find parts makers. Soon he was selling to other Kohler collectors and users.
“We are now shipping around 500 parts a month and expanding with a new office and parts warehouse,” says Ng. “We ship throughout the U.S. and Canada, as well as to South Africa, Australia, the United Kingdom and more.”
In addition to individual parts, he also assembles kits, such as a bundle pack to restore carburetor systems and an ignition pack.
“A new enthusiast may not know what all to replace, so we give them all the parts needed,” explains Ng.
While he started with Kohler engines, he is now offering parts for older Wisconsin, Tecumseh, and Briggs & Strattons, some dating back to the 1950’s. Eventually he hopes to have parts for engines going back to the 1920’s and 30’s.
“We are committed to bringing rare parts back to the market,” says Ng. “Every month we are reverse engineering and prototyping new parts. We’ve carried about 150 parts and just added another 100 this past month.”
Several things make iSaveTractors unique. One is the on-farm testing of every product added to the list. Another is Ng’s projects that show up on You Tube. Many are very basic for less experienced mechanics.
“We did a multi-part series of videos on the transformation of an ordinary Cub Cadet 149 into a tractor loader/backhoe dually,” says Ng. “We covered everything from where we got the plans to how we did it, the entire build process.”
Ng’s website is loaded with how-to information from links to videos to articles explaining the anatomy of an ignition coil.
“In addition to developing parts, our mission is to also spread quality and easy-to-understand information relating to engine and tractor technology,” says Ng.
As he expands the list of products he carries, Ng has need for more engines, not only for reverse engineering parts, but also for testing parts. “We are always looking for old engines,” he says. “The more rare, the better.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, iSaveTractors, P.O. Box 214, Hollis Center, Maine 04042 (ph 207 298-9701; info@isavetractors.com; www.isavetractors.com).
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Vintage Small Engine Parts Specialist ENGINES Small engine owners ordering parts from iSaveTractors know they are getting well-tested products Company owner Norman Ng has used every product he sells in his own vintage small engines He has more than 50 engines that he has rebuilt Some power the collection of garden tractors he uses on his 8 acres “We use our machines daily in every weather condition 365 days a year ” says Ng “Tested products have been worked hard ” He has restored about 15 garden tractors for his own collection and about 10 for customers As the parts business has grown the restoration sideline has been set aside iSaveTractors was started when Ng couldn’t find parts for his first garden tractor restoration about 4 years ago His then 2-year old son Lucas was born deaf and had just received cochlear implants “The restoration was a way to work with him to help him understand language ” says Ng “Some of his first words were engine part names ” He reports the project worked and no one would know his son was born deaf from the way he talks The project also opened Ng up to the frustrations of not finding parts for small Kohler engines He began using his computer skills to reverse engineer and design hard-to-find parts and then find parts makers Soon he was selling to other Kohler collectors and users “We are now shipping around 500 parts a month and expanding with a new office and parts warehouse ” says Ng “We ship throughout the U S and Canada as well as to South Africa Australia the United Kingdom and more ” In addition to individual parts he also assembles kits such as a bundle pack to restore carburetor systems and an ignition pack “A new enthusiast may not know what all to replace so we give them all the parts needed ” explains Ng While he started with Kohler engines he is now offering parts for older Wisconsin Tecumseh and Briggs & Strattons some dating back to the 1950’s Eventually he hopes to have parts for engines going back to the 1920’s and 30’s “We are committed to bringing rare parts back to the market ” says Ng “Every month we are reverse engineering and prototyping new parts We’ve carried about 150 parts and just added another 100 this past month ” Several things make iSaveTractors unique One is the on-farm testing of every product added to the list Another is Ng’s projects that show up on You Tube Many are very basic for less experienced mechanics “We did a multi-part series of videos on the transformation of an ordinary Cub Cadet 149 into a tractor loader/backhoe dually ” says Ng “We covered everything from where we got the plans to how we did it the entire build process ” Ng’s website is loaded with how-to information from links to videos to articles explaining the anatomy of an ignition coil “In addition to developing parts our mission is to also spread quality and easy-to-understand information relating to engine and tractor technology ” says Ng As he expands the list of products he carries Ng has need for more engines not only for reverse engineering parts but also for testing parts “We are always looking for old engines ” he says “The more rare the better ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup iSaveTractors P O Box 214 Hollis Center Maine 04042 ph 207 298-9701; info@isavetractors com; www isavetractors com
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