Tractor Mentor?

Get to know some of the members and learn who knows what is what and who just talks. It won't take long to tell, it's usually the guy in the back of the room who has some years on him and doesn't talk a lot that you want to find.

There is a lot to learn on here, and don't be afraid to ask questions, but there is nothing like sitting down with an old-timer and asking questions.

• IHC California Chapter

From my experience--
1-Get proper manuals and don't be afraid to start in.
2-When you are stumped, get on this forum.
3-Do you know anyone with mechanical expertise who could help you out occasionally?
4-The big one--for me anyway---carbs, generators, starters, distributors, mags, etc. should go out to a professional or someone with knowledge and experience. Don't try them yourself.
5-Do you have any special areas of expertise? If so,take advantage of it and get help for the other things. For instance, I'm good with BONDO, clutches, brakes, radiators. I can't paint worth a whoop and electrical stuff for me is till beyond mysterious. But my son (who is lousy with BONDO and hates doing brakes and clutches) is a great on engines and as far as electical issues go, he could wire the Space Shuttle. So--a balance of abilities.
6-Be patient--
7-Be patient---
8-Investigate expenses but don't let them scare you off.

9----Since doing my first tractor that I thought had to be perfect, I now am fanatical about the tractor's mechanical status but less so than I used to be about shiny paint. And you might be suprised at the number of people who appreciate a good running old tractor that doesn't look quite as good as Britney Spears.

10-Above all, have fun!!!

I have been on here some 6 years now and will give you an example of a thread I was involved in. A guy close to a 1,000 miles from me was wanting a disk harrow for his SC. 24 blade disks were all in the $600. plus range. He could buy a 44 blade disk for $100., good bearings, blades, etc. I asked if he ever thought of cutting the 44 blade disk down to 24 blades. We had several exchanges, he was satisfied with my advice, and I was satisfied he had the equipment and expertise to carry out this project. We then went to personal e mail. For the next three days we exchanged roughly 8, full screen screen e mails each. Then I never heard tell of him for 4 days. I decided that things didn't go well and that he was so annoyed with me I'd never hear tell of him again. On day five, I fired up my computer as I do every morning at 5 am. There awaited an e mail containing 3 photos of the completed 24 blade disk working behind his SC on his property. I then went to YT and the same photos, complete with testimonial on how I had helped, yet so far away. I have spoken with him this spring, now 4 years later and the disk still works well.

As you get into your project, you will settle in on 3 or 4 close advisors, and you will go to personal e mails. My best advice in sorting out who those advisors may be is read a lot of threads. See who is specializing on tractors, and what series, implements, engines, wiring, etc. Also see who is giving the best advice, and getting the testimonials. Check the archives, see who has been giving this advice and for how long, only the good ones hang in there. I see you've already found one of them. And last don't forget to come back to forum and thank them, that only serves to help the next guy.

Good luck with your tractor.

For some background of what is going on with me, please read these threads

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If you reply in here to those, that would be helpful, since those are already 4-5 pages back.

If I were you I would go with the H. If you have a full-size SUV (Expedition, Suburban, etc.) you could pull that one on a car trailer.

Farmalls of that vintage (A, B, C, H, M) are EASY to work on! A shop manual will walk you through most of it. Your biggest investment may be in the tools required to work on it... but I've been renting tools from Autozone and Checkers lately so you can save some $$ there.

Feel free to email me if you have any H specific questions, and be sure to visit Farmall-H.com for some more info on the H.

But you make a good point about the weight. I have a 2002 Trailblazer. I'll have to look up it's weight limit for towing.

Where exactly in CA are you? I like having an excuse for a nice weekend drive from time to time...