2012 - Volume #36, Issue #1, Page #09
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Half-Scale Hobby Turns Into Thriving Business
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“I advertised in Red Power Magazine in January 2011, and the ad netted two tractor orders. I’ve had 2 to 3 months of orders ever since,” he says. “I’m very happy and count my blessings every day. We went to Red Power Round Up last summer and left with 6 more orders from contacts made there.”
The husband and father of two young children had been unemployed, but was plenty busy this past year building 7 1/2-scale tractors along with his other business, lettering and pin-striping vehicles. He has orders for 8 more tractors this year.
While most of them are IH tractors, he’s open to working on other models.
“I’ll take a look at any make or model that someone wants me to build. I’ll determine if I can build it or not and give them an estimate,” he explains. “These tractors are as much art as they are engineering. In building them I use everything I’ve learned from my past – on the farm, sign making and graphic design.”
With 15 years experience in graphic design, Smith starts each project on his computer and prints out a pattern.
“I design it so when I walk in the shop I have a full-size layout to measure from,” he says. He starts with old garden tractors he often finds locally and tears them down to the frame, engine, transmission and steering pedestal. He also buys seats, tires, rims and lights.
Using his pattern, he fabricates the rest of the parts from steel, .040 aluminum and a 1/8-in. thick aluminum/plastic composite used in sign making. He hires a friend who owns a machine shop to make rear hub extensions to add 3 in. to the width, and to build assemblies for tricycle-style tractors. He also hires a mechanic if the tractor needs engine work.
Smith likes the simplicity of Cub Cadets; Deere tractors take a little longer. But he has favorites in both models.
“The half-size Deere 430 was the cutest one I’ve done,” he says. “I also like the IH 1206 with the white fenders and nose. That’s a sharp tractor.”
He’s excited about future projects. A customer ordered an IH 1066 pulling tractor with a turbo-charged, 3-cyl. Kubota diesel engine. He’s also working on V-8 IH 1568 replicas that will have twin cylinder engines with two chrome stacks, and a diesel IH 1206 Wheatland tractor.
Often customers request tractors that their fathers or grandfathers used for farming. One customer ordered a miniature replica of his tractor for his 5-year-old son.
Prices for the tractors vary greatly according to details and modifications required. Smith provides free cost estimates on all projects.
Smith’s website showcases photos of his latest and past projects.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Kurt Smith, The Little Tractor Co., 13710 Wabash Rd., Milan, Mich. 48160 (ph 734-368-3273; www.the littletractorco.blogspot.com ).
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