Antique tractors, unlike their modern cousins, were built more solidly with heavier metals and frequently more powerful motors. Even though they are old, antique tractors appeal to many partly because they are aesthetically appealing and also because they are durable and built to last.

Antique tractors often had a serial number attached to the body of the tractor in some manner. Some were stamped on metal plates which were then attached to the tractor. These had a tendency to jar loose or be knocked off eventually due to the heavy work that some tractors were exposed to. Others had the serial numbers stamped directly into the metal of the tractor itself.

Usually if you can find the serial number you can determine when it was built and by what company. There are published lists that can help you identify your tractor, but occasionally, companies did not list their serial numbers, so sometimes determining the actual age of your tractor may be more of an educated guess.

Pros and Cons of Antique Tractors

Buying an antique tractor can often be less expensive than buying a new tractor. If you plan on using your newly acquired tractor on a small farm, an antique tractor may be a good route to go. Newer, smaller horsepower tractors are designed specifically for activities such as mowing and tilling, and are built a little less sturdily than their ancestors. Older tractors have the ability to perform just about any task required of it on a small farm. They can stand up to excess weight and have the power to perform.

When researching antique tractors that you may want to buy, pay attention to how much restoration has been done on it. If there hasn’t been any parts replacement or updating, that means you will have to work on refurbishing your antique. However, older tractors are simpler than their modern counterparts and have much less in the way of electrical circuits to make things more complicated.

One thing to keep in mind when deciding on what type of tractor to buy is safety features. Antique tractors simply do not have many of the safety features that are required on modern tractors. This means that rollovers can be deadly just as they can in modern tractors, but there aren’t any safety features to minimize damage or protect the driver.

Antique tractors can be a thing of beauty when restored correctly. Finding the right tractor for what you want to do with it involves a little bit of research, but your decision shouldn’t be that hard once you determine what type of tractor you want or need.