First of all, congrats on getting your Grandpa's tractor. Although I have no practical use for them, I have 2 of my Grandpa's Farmalls. I have two scenarios for you, which may offer some insight into what you will want to do with the tractor.
The first is for his Farmall C. The C wasn't in the greatest of shape. When it didn't have the cultivators on it, it had a loader. The tin was beat up on the grill and had a big dent in the tank where a log had fallen off the loader and hit it. It was stored inside every night, but years of working from sun up to sun down had taken the paint down to nothing. It leaked oil out of just about every seal. I decided to restore that tractor for my Grandpa, and am glad that I did it. I kept the old wooden steering knob and his old seat cover on it just so it would have some sort of tie back to him. But, for the most part, it's just not the "Ol' C" anymore.
The second is his Farmall 400. I thought about restoring it, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that if I did that I wasn't keeping his tractor, I was making a new one for me. Scratches on the tin from putting the picker on, dabs of caulk here and there, his old farmer fixes were all things that tied him to that tractor and 50+ years of family farming. With restoring the C, I lost all those things (even though the C was in pretty bad shape). So, the 400 just got cleaned up and I polished the tin work. I can still see the scratches from the picker and chuckle at his dabs of caulk. So far, I am happy that I didn't "restore" it.
For you, my advice would be to first fix the leaks and get it running right. Then give yourself some time to think about different alterations and restorations that you'll want to do. If this it the tractor that you grew up on, you may want to keep it the way you remember it. Bottom line is that whatever you decide, I am sure your Grandpa would be happy!
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Today's Featured Article - The Niagra View Mobile - Powered by a 1959 Ford Tractor - by Mark Massey. In 1959 the Niagara Frontier Transit Inc. of Buffalo, New York designed and built six Viewmobiles for the Niagara Frontier Sightseeing Inc. for use as a sightseeing ride at the Niagara Falls State Park, Niagara Falls, New York, powered by a 1959 Ford 611 Tractor.
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