Phaon said:
Yeah, that's a beauty. A 190 is the next model I want to add to my collection. I'm more than a little dissappointed that I don't have that kind of cash right now, but I'm sure something else will turn up.
Speaking from experience, the tiller is hard to find. Took me ages to find mine, and it needed a lot of work. I'd pay a bit more (if I had it), considering the good condition of everything.
Chris
Chris,
As a collector, I'm sure that YOU will completely understand what I say.
On one hand, the collectors of this world would find that 190/tiller combo something that we'd want to add to our collection but now we are faced with the dilemma of how much we can afford to pay. Personally, I would not want to pay even $800.00 for that unit. I'd much rather pay half that amount or less. Now if that makes me sound cheap, then I have a question for all those who are willing to tack that tag under my screen name.
If I pay $1000.00 for this tractor and spend $1000.00 on it in provable out-of-pocket expenses to restore that tractor and tiller back to showroom condition and another $2000.00 in personal labor value, which one of you rich guys want to pay me $4000.00 for it when I'm done? Right now, we have another C/L offering for a tractor that someone poured lots of money and personal time into and he wants $7000.00 for it. Not a single person responding to that thread so far, thinks that his creation is worth any where close to his asking price.
That's the problem with this hobby. Collectors have to work hard to find low cost tractors to bring back to life. We take them to shows and people walk by and ooh and ahh and say.... I wish I owned an old tractor like that. But not one of them are willing to pay you a dime for all the time it took you to FIND that tractor for cheap money, haul it home, tear it apart, remove all the grease, dirt, rust and paint, repair or replace all the problem parts and then put it back together after priming, sanding, priming, sanding, priming, sanding and then painting it. The reality is that you are lucky if you recover every dime you have invoices for. However, there are hidden costs known as "overheads" that never get factored in. How about the wear and tear on all the tools I bought or the electricity and heat? How about the value of the shop space in my home? Collectors are crazy. We restore these old tractors because doing so makes us happy. And when we show them and see that what we did makes the visitors happy, then we are happy once again.
No one should restore a tractor in the belief that there is money to be made.
Someone once described boat ownership the following way. "A boat is essentially a hole in the water that you throw money in.....endlessly."
Collecting old GT's is something like that.
. Walked down, paid, drove it back and stuck it in my mother-in-laws garage :lol:
