Gauteng Smallholder December/ January 2018 | Page 41

From page 39
TRACTORS
tractors, specifically
Vaaljapies. Business is
never slack at present,
he says, because farmers
in the 40s and 50s bring
him a continual stream
of their parents' old
machines, tucked away
under some afdak for
decades, for refurbish- Try to prevent your workshop floor from
ment, often as tractors becoming a jumble of parts and tools.
on which their children
models and years. For
can learn to drive (letting
example, the back end of the
a kid loose on a modern
million rand four-wheel-drive Massey Ferguson 35 tractor is
pretty much the same as its
John Deere or Massey-
forerunner, the Ferguson TE
Ferguson is not necessarily a
series, so many modern parts
good idea, they realise).
Here are some pointers when can be used on the older
machines as replacements.
seeking to buy a tractor for
And, considering you are
home restoration.
looking to build up a working
K You will need a closed,
lock-up space, about the size tractor rather than a show-
of a double garage at least, in piece, going for a make that
is common makes more
which to park the machine,
sense than going for the rarity
strip it, refurbish it and
value of some obscure
rebuild it. It needs to be
marque which only ever sold
secure and dry because you
a few hundred machines in
will be leaving parts lying
the country.
about, not to mention tools,
K If you've only ever worked
while you work on it, which
you will find yourself doing in on cars or motorbikes, rather
choose a petrol-powered
your space time, over
tractor to restore. Tolerances
weekends, etc, and as parts
and spares become available in diesel engines are much
finer and may test your
to you.
amateur mechanical abilities.
Some kind of hoist, for
handling heavy loads such as K If you choose an English or
the engine block, wheels etc, American make to rebuild
you will need to procure a set
will be most welcome.
of imperial tools.
K Because you are going to
K Bolts and nuts on old
be using your tractor on a
tractors will often have frozen
smallholding, choose a
in place through rust, so a
smallish tractor rather than a
giant, and look for one in the plentiful supply of Q20
penetrating lubricant will be
best possible nick to start
handy, and you will soon
with, preferably with all its
learn techniques such as
parts intact, even if they're
not working. Choose a tractor loosening recalcitrant nuts by
heating with a blowtorch.
with rear hydraulics, rather
K Before you start pulling
than an old implement
dragger. Effectively this means the machine to pieces, try to
procure a parts list and
you should confine your
search to machin es built since service manual. The internet
is a good place to search for
the 1950s.
such documents. At least that
In South Africa some makes
will tell you what goes where
were more popular than
when you try to reassemble
others, making spares more
it. You will also find it useful
readily available. Also, in
in giving tolerances, clear-
some makes there is com-
monality of parts across
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