you have to remember ,theres different kinds of collectors. a real, true, died in the wool collector is someone who only wants the very best and rarest of whatever they collect.they want and are only interested in these, know more about whatever it is than 99.9% of the folks here and any flaw can be a deal breaker. most folks who sell to them,very seldom even touch what they are selling,they broker deals between two collectors and their main buisness line is simply knowing who owns what.
then theres the folks who decide they want to collect say a certain brand of whatever.these folks generaly are the ones who want to have every tractor made of a certain brand,type whatever.they will often buy three or four of one tractor use the parts off them to make one out of original used parts. this of course,makes a rare tractor sometimes,but its worthless to the collectors above simply because its not STRICTLY original.its a hogpodge of several tractors put together to make a certain type or model of tractor.these are quite often the ones you see on tv having 100-200 tractors or whatever. these folks often spend a lot of money filling out a collection,and are the ones youll see buying tractors at the well publicized auctions.they dont mind buying junk,because often they are looking for one certain part.
then theres folks who buy them just because they like them.they often dont even make them run.they simply want to own them. they often quote the old cliche that they are a part of history or they are saving them.( which is good i'm not saying it isnt) but often they just let them sit.they might if they are really smart sell parts to the folks above, and scrap the remains,but they generaly wind up simply having lots of tractors in bad shape simply rusting away. lets face it guys,honestly and truly,each old wd,9n,whatever, that goes to scrap actually increases the price of those remaining! and the scrappers are the bread and butter folks of the collecting world!! they like old tractors and things ,but they also realize that one running is worth 10 rusted hulks.
then theres those like a lot of us here.in fact the largest percentage of us here.those are the folks who collect for sentimental reasons.very very often we spend more on one of these old machines than they could ever be worth.buy whatever parts we can get to keep them running,paint them, ruin that paint by tearing them down again when another part fails,very often simply use one because we have a mistaken belief that we are saving money. fact is the cheapest tractor to operate is simply the biggest,highest hp one , that you can get thru your gates! regardless of brand or year of manufacture. but we run them because we had one on the farm as a kid,or like the looks of them, or simply find one for a cheap price. these ,and I'll admit im one,are the ones youll most likely be selling to most.to sell to them and make a really successful time of it,youll have to remember two things. one ,the better they LOOK the better they SELL! every single time bar none.so that means youll have to doll them up.the so called acrylic overhaul if you will. then for the most part youll have to know the simple things that some neophyte will check. take a 9n for instance , it would have to start and run quietly,even though it may need a carb,radiator,have bad wiring etc etc. the lift would have to move up and down,even though the pto bearing retainer is bad and the salesman knows it wont run anything doesnt matter it simply has to move. in other words all you have to do is make it LOOK GOOD. you cant fix all these things and make money,what you do is sell it,then charge the new owners to repair it.
one thing that drives the market is sentiment,you cant put a price on sentiment,this keeps this old tractor buisness going.folks will spend money they dont have for sentiment,and cling to that purchase beyond all normal reason.
