Tractor Restoration Business Is Booming

Tractor Restoration Business Is Booming TRACTORS Miscellaneous When the pandemic hit Luke Olson figured his tractor restoration business would dry up Instead it boomed He used to be four to six mos out on work now he’s two years out “I was worried I would be out of a job; instead I’m overwhelmed ” says Olson “I’ve done work for people from N Y to Colo and have one on the list from Calif I never dreamt I would have customers from so far away ” The grandson of an Allis Chalmers dealer Olson is best known for working on that brand in part because he collects them himself However he works on all colors and all sizes His biggest restoration was an 8030 Allis Chalmers His smallest was a child’s wheelbarrow “A customer asked me to restore a 560 Farmall pedal tractor ” says Olson “Then he brought over a wheelbarrow he’d had as a kid ” Olson doesn’t have much time for wheelbarrows or pedal tractors anymore In the past five years he has restored around 60 full-size tractors including some rare ones “I did an Allis WC grader tractor ” says Olson “It was called a speed patrol and only 175 were made It had had a rough life Everything was frozen up and rusted solid with lots of broken parts I took parts from three tractors to restore it ” Most of the tractors Olson works on are newer and less rare In fact he says they are getting newer with more and more from the 1960’s and 1970’s For younger customers these are the tractors they remember from their youth The older the tractor the harder the restoration usually is and the more mechanical problems there often are Old or new Olson starts with an estimate of what is going to be required to complete the restoration If additional problems appear during the process he notifies the customer with a recommendation and an estimated cost to fix the problem Depending on the extent of work required the tractor or equipment is disassembled If a part can’t be completely painted in place it is removed and painted separately likewise if it is blocking access to another component Of course that is after sandblasting to remove not only paint but grease grime and rust Olson always spends a lot of time on the sheet metal He notes that dents and dings are inevitable on an old tractor Even one that looks perfect with the old dull paint will show dents once a new paint job is completed “We go over the entire tractor looking for dents and dings ” says Olson “It is not uncommon to spend 30 to 40 hrs on fenders and hoods ” Dings can be more time-consuming than rusted-out sheet metal In the latter case Olson will fabricate steel patches and weld them in “Once the welds are ground down and the piece is finished the patch is undetectable ” says Olson “On some tractors the dents are less subtle ” Irreplaceable broken cast parts are a real challenge In those cases Olson has a foundry he works with In the case of a 1919 Altman Taylor the foundry used the broken parts for a pattern and then cast new ones Once repairs and replacements are done and the tractor has been sandblasted the bare metal is primed Different primers are used for different applications In the case of sheet metal that requires an extremely smooth finish two primers are used an etching primer and a high build sandable primer Getting the paint right is a real point of pride for Olson He knows that color is one of the biggest arguments at tractor shows He prefers to use single-stage automotive paint “The paint we apply has a hardener added that gives it a better shine It will be more durable than the OEM paint originally used ” says Olson “We do use the original colors for all restoration jobs The research on this is part of every restoration I’m always happy to share paint codes with anyone restoring a tractor The more information we share the better ” Olson is also willing to share the secret to successful restorations “The biggest thing is to have a list of resources that never ends ” he says “The more people you know the better off you are ” Olson admits he has restored some that shouldn’t have been “It would have cost less to find a different one but about 90 percent of the tractors I do were Dad’s tractor or one the customer grew up with ” he says “That’s why almost every restored tractor has more in it than it is worth on the market ” A job well done by an expert like Olson is more than a restoration “The tractor will look better than it did when it came off the assembly line ” he says “The modern chemicals and processes we use will help to keep it that way for years and years ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Olson Tractor Restoration 912 West Winter Ave Elmwood Wis 54740 ph 715-317-0017; www olsontractor com

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