Restoration Duo Saves IH Cubs From Extinction

Restoration Duo Saves IH Cubs From Extinction TRACTORS Antiques 26-4-40 If you have a Farmall Cub in need of restoration, you might want to get in touch with Alan Wells and Jack Borden. The Oakville, Wash., farmers run a tractor repair and restoration business out of the shop on Well's farm. In recent years they started buying and restoring Cubs. They work on standards, highboys, or lowboys with IH, McCormick-Deering, or Farmall paint and decals. If they can be repaired to near original condition, Wells and Borden are up to the task. They've bought and then resold most of the Cubs they've worked on, but Wells says, "We've also restored some for collectors and people who still want to use a Cub for work." Borden has a special place in his heart for Cubs. As a 13-year-old, he sold an FFA calf for enough to make the down payment on a Cub and then did custom tractor work with it in order to make the $43 monthly payments. While Cubs are a special favorite, Wells and Borden will work on anything. They prefer it be red, though. They've restored a lot of Farmall A's, Super A's, H's and M's along with a few later models. To date, nearly all the tractors they've restored have been from the Pacific Northwest. They're looking to buy junked and restorable Cubs within a reasonable drive from Oakville, just south and west of the Seattle area. And they'll sell a restored one to anyone who wants it. Wells says a Cub that sold new for $550 in 1947 is worth $3,000 or more now if it's properly restored. "It doesn't matter if the tractor is part of a collection or is going back out to do field work, we restore them all the same," Wells says. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Alan Wells, 7571 St. Route 12, Oakville, Wash. 98568 (ph 360 273-2454; E-mail: alankriswells@iwon.com).

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