Original or Beautified

It's hard to say what is the proper way to restore an old antique tractor. Some say that you need to keep everything all original down to and including the old original paint and decals........ so long as everything works and is as it was delivered from the factory.

Others will say "Spice it up some!" Repaint it, add chrome, make new mounting step plates on the hitch assembly or just a host of other stuff to make your tractor unique. I kind of belong to this latter approach... just so long as you don't take it too far!

On my regular antique tractor website I have a page showing an old 1934 Farmall F20 that my brother restored a few years back. It kind of belongs in the "Spice it up some" category. He added special hand made step plates inside the drawbar made out of a couple of pieces of old oak boards that he got from work and that formerly supported a piece of heavy equipment for shipment. I think it looks pretty good. Other than the step plates however, the tractor is all original but just renewed with paint, new tires, decals and all. Could this be a compromise restoration between the two approaches?

Any way you cut it, either way is better than no way at all. Too much of this old stuff is getting cut up for scrap............ especially these days when scrap metal is increasing in value. Let's keep both these styles going!

Dave