"restoring history"

as a long time member of the orange empire railway museum (perris, ca) i've been involved in this discussion often re railroad equipment, but now i'm venturing into the tractor arena (very enthusiastically!).

You arent gonna paint your Allis Chalmers green are you? On the other hand a gage that doesnt say A/C on it but restores function is perfectly acceptable. Its your machine, you can restore to the ultimate detail but most people probably wouldnt see the necessity.  The first time you use it it will get "stained". You are going to USE your machine arent you?

I go for the "ugliest" prize myself. It is not unusual for me to go to the parade with the tractor missing pieces. Time and money being the limiting factors. Different and unique is another catagory. I do not see the point in having a trailer queen for anything. If you can not use it then no point in speding the time and money. 

When I first started this hobby I was all about "Just like it rolled off the line", but recently I have been thinking about this a lot and I think farmer modifications are also a part of history. I think a heathy mix of both are good.

this forum appears to be a lot of different things to a lot of different people. from geezers with an itch to skippy first year FFA student. so you'll probably get more than 3 responses. most are die hard ac guys, some are still trying to figure out what they really have. this forum has guys that actually designed or assembled, tested or set up new ac manufactured ag equipment. they remember punching a clock, the heat from the engine lines and the pop machine in one building or another that never gave correct change, or their father/mother did. it appears to me that this forum has a goodly number of full time production farmers, like real time guys that are farming for profit plus a ton of part time guys that do the farming trick to support what ever jones they have. the rest of the crowd fall somewhere in between novice to concourse quality restorer. many spent pre and post adolesence time in, on or around some type of ac equipment, using it or sales/servicing it. this web site is truely remarkable because it has the people resources to support what ever you are doing or contemplating doing with any sort of ac equipment. and they do it, from my time around here, willingly, as if their input could weigh in on the final outcome of your project. got questions about commodity prices, fertilizer applications, bean futures and the chance of rain? some one here will give you pretty good advice. need a spec on a wd crank or the lift on a 170 cam, its rock solid.

Good points, variety is the spice of life.

Someday I'd like to restore my '39 B to close to original shape, with all of the unique '39- and other early B-specific parts. It'll get used to plow and cultivate though, so I won't spend a ton of time and money on paint, but I'll do more than "rattle can" it. My '40 B has already been converted to electric start, so I have no qualms about swapping in foot brakes or making a few other improvements. I have no clue what to do with my WC yet.

yep, that's the plan.