Classic vehicle owners are a growing trend and for those of us who own one to several classics, we love showing them off at car shows. For my husband and I, we love to drive our classics when ever possible. After all, letting them just sit there is not really that good for them. Engines were meant to run and starting them often can save you headaches when you do wish to get behind the wheel and take her for a spin.
Knowing how popular Classic vehicles are, did you know that Classic Tractors is just as popular? Well they are. As a matter of fact, many farmers not only own them as a tool for their trade, but also for collecting. I love watching Classic Tractor Fever which airs every Tuesday at 9:00 PM on RFDTV or 153 on Charter. It is a show to see. My eyes enlarge and my mouth drops when I see just how many tractors some of these guys own. One guy has over 100 of the same make with each model of several years in his collection.
Some collect Classic Garden Tractors and love to show them off at tractor shows, just like a Car Show and others collect them for their own pleasure. And we thought spending many dollars to restore a classic car was expensive, what till you hear how much these farmers and collectors spend on these babies!
Back in the early tractor days, farmers would many times use their tractors like we use our every day drivers. It was not unheard of for a farmer to take to old gal to the store to pick up some grub. 
So you ask, what is a Classic Tractor? Here is the definition from one of the Classic Tractor sites Country Small Holding.
What is a classic tractor?
Classic, when applied to any form of automotive machinery – as far as I am concerned – suggests something built to last, probably from the mid 1950s to late 1960s period. In reality, it is probably the vehicle or machine you can first remember as a child or new employee, vintage being the same, but for your father or mother!
If planning to buy, restore and show your tractor, rather than simply keeping it as a trusty workhorse, pre-1959 is generally considered ‘vintage’, whilst 1960 to 1975ish is ‘classic tractor’ country; it’s worth checking your local agricultural Show or tractor club’s interpretation before you buy, thus avoiding an expensive or time-consuming faux pas…
A further consideration for the exhibitionist owner is likely to be tow-ability; can you stick your newly restored pride-and-joy on a trailer, and tow it legally behind the family saloon (see March 2012 article), or will you need a lorry and police outriders? Most of the Grey Fergies or Fordson Dexta tractors are probably tow-able; anything larger will likely require specialist transport…
A further prerequisite for achieving ‘classic’ status, I would suggest, is ‘Still available in reasonable numbers, today’. If the Rust Moth has not eaten it in the intervening 50 years and it still works as intended, it was probably well made – thinking tractors, Ferguson or Massey Ferguson, Fordson Major, Dexta or possibly Nuffield or David Brown are likely to fit in to this description.
So if you want to interest yourself into learning more about another type of Classic, give the websites listed a try. On Tuesday nights you know where I will be, watching Classic Tractor Fever.
