Business Is Booming For Tractor Restoration Shop
Prospective customers at Stan Heinze's restoration shop can see how talented he is simply by viewing his personal collection which includes a set of styled and unstyled B John Deere tractors. The tractors showcase his mechanical skills and the painting talent of his partner, Chris Letourneau, as well as the skills of three other employees at Classic Farm Tractors, LLC. Heinze is also a third generation farmer who raises corn, sugar beets and wheat on his Colorado farm.
"Everyone on staff believes in attention to detail and getting restorations right by listening to the needs of clients," Heinze says.
He understands what collectors want. Heinze, 51, started collecting tractors when he was in high school and bought two of his grandfather's tractors. He has owned as many as 45 tractors, but recently "thinned the herd down" for ease of maintenance, keeping the most valuable for his retirement nest egg.
He fabricates many replacement parts and is an expert at magnetos, carburetors and building custom brass fuel lines.
"Restorations can be as elaborate as an all-bolt restoration where the entire tractor is taken apart and rebuilt from the ground up, or it can be as minimal as a quick paint job," Heinze says. "We work with our clients to determine a budget and how they intend on using the tractor after the restoration is completed."
For painting, he charges for the cost of parts plus labor based on local paint shop rates and discounts the mechanical rate to about 60 percent of local tractor dealership rates.
Clients include collectors from Colorado, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Nebraska. Heinze was encouraged to start his business when people saw his tractors at shows and asked him to do work for them.
Restorations have included everything from a 1919 Waterloo Boy to more modern Deere 3020's and 4020's. Some offer more challenges than others.
The most challenging was a 730 All Fuel Standard that had been in South Africa and was brought back to the U.S. The client wanted it restored in time to be auctioned at a national exposition.
"The tractor would test both the mechanics and painters from the start to the finish," Heinze says. "The joke would be that it had been cursed with a voodoo doll while in South Africa because every process would be one step forward and two steps back."
Mechanics had to tear down parts sometimes more than once - to make them leak-free and mechanically sound. It had to be painted twice and decals had to be ordered and corrected three times. It rained on photo day. A tornado delayed transportation to the auction.
"The good news is the tractor was beautiful and brought the client good value at the national exposition auction so it was worth all the trials and tribulations," Heinze says.
Another personal restoration gave him satisfaction, as he was able to purchase a rare tractor for his John Deere B collection. After years of searching, in 2009, he found a California owner of an unstyled BWH-40 John Deere.
"The tractor was a basket case and had to be completely torn down and rebuilt, but all the rare pieces were intact," Heinze says.
The tractor required all-bolt restoration, and received Exposition Quality Certification in Waterloo, Iowa, in 2010. Only 15 models of the tractor were made.
"It is by far one of the most beautiful restorations to come out of the shop," Heinze says.
Classic Farm Tractors operates year-round. While Heinze is partial to Deere tractors, he also owns and restores other makes including Farmall, Case, Minneapolis Moline, Massey Harris and many others. He also has many tractors and parts for sale.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Classic Farm Tractors, LLC, 13497 Weld County Rd. 80, Eaton, Colo. 80615 (ph 970 396-0914; www.classicfarmtractors.com).
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Business Is Booming For Tractor Restoration Shop SPECIALTY/SERVICES Specialty/Services Prospective customers at Stan Heinze s restoration shop can see how talented he is simply by viewing his personal collection which includes a set of styled and unstyled B John Deere tractors The tractors showcase his mechanical skills and the painting talent of his partner Chris Letourneau as well as the skills of three other employees at Classic Farm Tractors LLC Heinze is also a third generation farmer who raises corn sugar beets and wheat on his Colorado farm Everyone on staff believes in attention to detail and getting restorations right by listening to the needs of clients Heinze says He understands what collectors want Heinze 51 started collecting tractors when he was in high school and bought two of his grandfather s tractors He has owned as many as 45 tractors but recently thinned the herd down for ease of maintenance keeping the most valuable for his retirement nest egg He fabricates many replacement parts and is an expert at magnetos carburetors and building custom brass fuel lines Restorations can be as elaborate as an all-bolt restoration where the entire tractor is taken apart and rebuilt from the ground up or it can be as minimal as a quick paint job Heinze says We work with our clients to determine a budget and how they intend on using the tractor after the restoration is completed For painting he charges for the cost of parts plus labor based on local paint shop rates and discounts the mechanical rate to about 60 percent of local tractor dealership rates Clients include collectors from Colorado Pennsylvania Indiana and Nebraska Heinze was encouraged to start his business when people saw his tractors at shows and asked him to do work for them Restorations have included everything from a 1919 Waterloo Boy to more modern Deere 3020 s and 4020 s Some offer more challenges than others The most challenging was a 730 All Fuel Standard that had been in South Africa and was brought back to the U S The client wanted it restored in time to be auctioned at a national exposition The tractor would test both the mechanics and painters from the start to the finish Heinze says The joke would be that it had been cursed with a voodoo doll while in South Africa because every process would be one step forward and two steps back Mechanics had to tear down parts sometimes more than once - to make them leak-free and mechanically sound It had to be painted twice and decals had to be ordered and corrected three times It rained on photo day A tornado delayed transportation to the auction The good news is the tractor was beautiful and brought the client good value at the national exposition auction so it was worth all the trials and tribulations Heinze says Another personal restoration gave him satisfaction as he was able to purchase a rare tractor for his John Deere B collection After years of searching in 2009 he found a California owner of an unstyled BWH-40 John Deere The tractor was a basket case and had to be completely torn down and rebuilt but all the rare pieces were intact Heinze says The tractor required all-bolt restoration and received Exposition Quality Certification in Waterloo Iowa in 2010 Only 15 models of the tractor were made It is by far one of the most beautiful restorations to come out of the shop Heinze says Classic Farm Tractors operates year-round While Heinze is partial to Deere tractors he also owns and restores other makes including Farmall Case Minneapolis Moline Massey Harris and many others He also has many tractors and parts for sale Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Classic Farm Tractors LLC 13497 Weld County Rd 80 Eaton Colo 80615 ph 970 396-0914; www classicfarmtractors com
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