Buying Sight Unseen

I've been enjoying reading the different views on buying this old iron sight unseen. Seems like there are opinions from one end of the ladder to the other.

Is the practice unwise? Well, of course it is.

But ya know what? I think there are different avenues of approach. I think that for a lot of us, it is a game and the fun lies in the gamble of the thing; it is the unknowing and it is kinda the unknown "Christmas Present" when the treasure finally arrives and you get to see what you really did get for your money. It is the "How smart was I on this buy?" thing.

Some people like to go to the Casinos and throw their money at a one-armed machine, other people like to play the lottery, and still others like to bet on sporting events. I view these doings the same as flushing the money down the toilet, but others see it differently; each to his own.

My wife likes to put money in the stock market. I like to chase old iron. We both know that we are taking a chance with what we invest.

She is probably making more money than I am, but I think I’m havin’ a lot more fun & my toys are a lot bigger! :>)

A view from poverty hill,

Allan

Seriously, though, I love my M. I only have 5 acres, so I don't use it for farming. I use it for the front loader, to move engine blocks and to move building steel. Every time I fix something, I spend more money than the tractor is worth. It smokes; it leaks; it has horrible pea-green paint. But it runs, and it does everything I ask it to do. I plan on spending $600 or so revamping the hydraulics. I plan on spending $600 or so on a 3-point hitch. When the time comes, I'll spend the money and time rebuilding the engine. I'll spend the time and money straightening the tin and redoing the wiring. In the end, I'll have a tractor worth exactly what I originally paid for it.

But that isn't the point, is it? I get a great deal of satisfaction taking something that is an ugly pea-green and making it pretty again. I get a great deal of satisfaction knowing that I don't throw things (like my M) away. When I fix a stubborn leak, it's a celebration. Heck! I even get a great deal of satisfaction knowing I have a real cast iron tractor in the shed.

You guys are writing up some good reading here and you seem to have the same attitude that I have.

I just bought an old girl that had one brand new front tire and a freshily overhauled engine, but she was obviously quite tired after some 7032 hours of very hard work.

But, there was just something about the look of this old sister that made me want to own her.

I'm in the process of putting on 3 more new tires & tubes, completely going thru the rest of the drive train, all new fluids & filters, new voltage regulator, a new seat and then I will paint/decal her.

Sure, I'm throwin' a bucketful of money at it, but when it is all said and done, I still won't have half of her original cost invested.

I think Matt hit on the right word: respect.

It makes me feel good to give this old tractor her youth back and to restore her to what she once was.

And if I should happen to ask her to pull another 7000 hours, she'll do it and she'll do it well.

These old tractors just make me feel good inside.

Allan

The END