Tractor owners and keen eyes

Living in the city you can't have too much iron laying around. The municipal yard nazis have been after me a couple of times because I have tractors at my place for the winter.
So last fall I found this little Ford. Not running. But I got it cheap thinking I'd get it running for resale. And stashed it at my buddy's house in another burb. I didn't get to it before freeze up so it sits there waiting for spring.
This morning he calls me and asks about the fellow who wants to buy the tractor.
Huh??
He says the guy knocks at his door and inquires about the tractor. So my pal, thinking that I might have run an ad somewhere lets him go behind the garage and have a look.
I told him when he comes back to give him my number which he did.
Now here's the deal.
My friend has a huge lot that abuts a buisy 4 lane highway. The back end is quite visible from the road. Though a lot of trees and brush are back there.
And when we unloaded the tractor we purposely hid it for the most part so no one could see it.
Yeah, if sun is just right and you're looking between the garage and wood pile, behind the pine tree, by the van and utility trailer you might see a rear tire and a hint of the hood.
I know where it is and would have to take my eyes off the buisy road to see the darned thing.
I'm amazed really.
So the fellow calls me today and I told him yes it's for sale - for what it's worth running of course. He said he'd call tommorrow and let me know. We'll see.
Maybe that's the secret to finding good tractors.
Having exceptionally keen eyes. I'm always scanning the hedgerows and back lots for iron. But no way would I have seen this tractor in a dozen years.
I hope he buys it by the way. Even for a little less. This time of year you can use the money -

The leaves are off the trees and the weeds are dead, this is the time to look for junk er NEW treasures!

Reckon this "buyer" has been snooping around? I hope he just has good eyes and a pocketful of $$$. Not a bad idea to get tag numbers from folks that just show up..

Maybe he has an Ultralight plane and flies over it all the time? Not too unusual for someone on the hunt to see one part and guess the rest.

About a 1/4 mile off the road I have a few pieces of old machinery sitting. A few shrubs, windmill, and so on is between. The cowyard is in front, a macnine shed & trees are behind, so there isn't anything that sticks out or identifable.

Fella asks me one day if that Oliver plow I have is a 2 or 3 bottom there on the hill.....

--->Paul

I'm one of those that looks around at everything, especially this time of year. I might not always know exactly what I'm seeing but I can usually tell the old from the new.

I'd bet he's been pokin and snoopin; one-a-those, "Look what I found" types. How can one 'find' something that wasn't lost? We get those who post something similar on 'here' occasionally, "I was looking around this old farm and just happened to open the door to this old shed..........."

a few of my tractor pulling buddies did rent a plane and they found quite a few tractors they went to one farm and bought 7 tractors including a 400d . when they got home the 400d started on diesel wouldn't start on gas .

Though I live in Wisconsin, our daughter lives
near Omaha. On visits I aways take the back roads
or go the "long Way", and scan the fence rows and "groves". I drives my wife nuts !
And I always cruise around the "back lots" of the
small town implement dealers, never know what
you"re going to find!

[i:654c4848f0]Not a bad idea to get tag numbers from folks that just show up..
[/i:654c4848f0]
Good point.
My friend - whose yard the tractor sits in was a Minneapolis cop for 33 years. He retired and now works for the county as an investigator. He has a mind like a steel trap and could probably quote the guys tag from memory. But I'll bet you he has the # written down somewhere. That's just how he is.
I tease him and call him the bureaucrat - a double dipping one at that.

Just have to know what you're looking for. I know where there's part of an Oliver 66 sitting in the brush. From the many times I've been by it,I can tell the motor is out and the hood is gone,but I know what it is. Leaves kinda cover it up in the spring summer and fall,and it's hard to spot in the snow,but if you're looking,you can see it there. Keep saying I'm gonna stop one of these days and ask if it's for sale. Just ain't got to it yet.

its amazing what people can "find" when it isnt "lost" i know where numerous old tractors are, so do their owners most have plans for them or they are family tractors and will never be sold running or not, had a guy "find" a classic caddillac car i was responsible for, funny thing about the find was this car is in a locked barn no windows, just a few small cracks in the walls, when he asked about his "find" and is it for sale i told him no not ever and you didnt find it because it isnt lost the owner, his family, and me know right where it is , the guy wouldnt tell me how he came to know the car was in there , now for the jucy part, the cadillac is a 1956 coupe deville bought new by the owners mother in 1956, the car has 24,000 original miles on it from new and is factory original except for tires and battery even has the original paper tag on the core support where the dealer checked the car in at the dealership when it arrived in 1956 all the paperwork is with the car , now its obvious why its in a locked barn, oh yeah it runs like new ive personally driven it

So, you go out looking for a "find", and ask about it, if it is for sale:
Several standard answers:
1. No!
2. It belonged to my Daddy, Grand=daddy, Uncle, Aunt, girl friend , Preacher, all of those excuses and more! Ain't goin to sell it-wouldn't be right--keeping it in their memory, on and on, ad infinitum.
3. I'm going to restore it! Ain't for sale. going to start on it in the Spring, Fall, Winter, Summer, when i retire, when the old woman dies, when i get the money, when the moon is right, when i retire, on & on, ad infinitum.
Those folks will probably die before anything gets done on those old machines, and their kids will sell it to the junk man, without a qualm!
One time, many years ago, i met an old farmer who had a Model T Touring car. It still ran, but needed some paint and TLC. It was kept in a barn, not outside. I made him a good offer on it, but he stone-walled me at every turn, with the usual excuses. Several months later, i went to pay him a visit. UH-OH!!
He had died, his daughter sold the place, the man who bought it had a bull dozer come in and flatten everything, including the old car, then they dug a very large hole and pitched everything into it, lit it up, and then buried the remains under 30 feet of fill!
And there, is a museum of a lot of very old collectible stuff, buried in that new developement!
Over the years, i have managed to buy a few items, but mostly got the stone-wall answers!

UD,

That is why I have so much trouble with my neck twisting back and forth looking for tractors. Found a 4000 diesel High Clear last week on our way to look at another tractor. All you could see was one rear tire for briers and bushes. Brother goes back yesterday catches the owners son home. Talks to owner on phone man wants to sell doesn't know what he wants for it. Headed there in the morning with bush axe and machete.
Looking is good but some times you need to ask people if they know where any old tractors might be. I met a guy in Ga. that had a couple of retired farmers that he gives $100 for every tractor they find that he buys.
Ron

good eyes aren"t always good.
i still have anger over this 1 or 2 years later:

we have a broken in half ih tractor that you cannot see from the highway just as you describe. the fenders got stolen off of it. OE fenders that are worth $500 or more. they were in pristine shape other than paint. looks like they removed them properly at the mounting bolts and took all the clamps. I try to see the tractor this time of year and it"s still impossible unless you slam on the brakes, etc. YOu pretty much have to pull into the yard to snoop.

some people just have an eye--some are evil. and a busy highway doesn"t guarantee theft deterrence anymore.

karl f

stopped one time to inquire about a farmall f-12 sitting in the weeds,head off,cylinders filled to top with rusy rainwater.Was told "oh no, its not for sale its my uncles pride and joy ". hate to see what he considered junk! Bill M.