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Ironwrkr: Yard art or restoration? Could go either way. You"ve got a couple of things in your favor: the radiator sides on this tractor are the early "ladder" type, which means that they were produced in 1918 or 1919, and you"ve got a set of fenders. (Yes, the fenders are rough, but you"re an iron worker apparently, and could doubtless bring them back with a little effort.) Both of these are pluses. In the minus category, the rear wheels (and probably the fronts, too, though I couldn"t really tell, unless that half wheel to the right of the driver"s seat used to be a front wheel) have sunk down into the ground over the years and are most likely rotted (rusted) away, so you"d need to find wheels (which are out there -- just have to look). The exhaust manifold is missing (you can look right into the number 4 cylinder) so the engine is stuck. Hard telling how much water has gone in over the years, and if you live in a climate where it freezes in the winter, you"ll most likely have considerable freeze damage (i.e., castings broken from water expanding into ice). Couldn"t tell from the photos, but the fuel tank"s most likely rotted out at the bottom. If it"s not too bad you can fix it, but if you need to buy another they can get pricey, "cause no one"s making reproductions of these yet. There are lots of other issues: coil box is missing its top, coils are gone, tool box is gone, original seat is gone... Lots of stuff is gone. OK, down to brass tacks. If it were my tractor, I"d part it out. It *could* be brought back, but there are a LOT of Fordson tractors out there that would be easier (and don"t forget cheaper) to restore than this one. Save yourself a lot of headaches and buy another, more complete tractor to restore. You can use this one for parts -- it"s still got a lot of good ones on it. Fordson collectors would be glad to get those radiator sides, restored fenders, air washer, etc. (heck, even that non-original seat is a collectable to some folks!), so it"s definitely not junk. And, it"s really worth more for parts than it ever could be as "yard art." If you *do* want to part it out, there are folks in this forum who would be interested... In the end, though, it"s your call. Let us know what you decide. -- Maine Fordson P.S. -- If you have any questions, let us know -- I"ll do my level best to answer them.
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