University of California, Davis

Agricultural Machinery Collection

References & Restoration

We are pleased to help serious hobbyists and those who are only serious about having some fun with an antique tractor or piece of machinery. The good news is that for almost any tractor or engine built in the last ninety years there are manuals and even parts available if you are willing to do a little searching. Even more good news is that if you're reading this on the World Wide Web you're already in a much better position than many to search for parts, manuals, and expertise. You can easily search the archives of tractor and equipment listserves for mention of the type of equipment of interest to you. The bad news.. Well, to us is there is little bad news about these kind of endeavors, except when one turns a wrench unnecessarily strongly and must weld a crack, fix a thread, or replace that specialized part. :) Other than that, we wish you much luck and pleasure in preserving and celebrating mechanical ingenuity in early agriculture.

The first step is to acquire a few key references about your particular piece of machinery. Though this depends in part on the vintage of your machine, a good place to start is the "transportation" section of any large bookstore. You might run across "How to Restore Your Farm Tractor" or "Antique Tractor Bible" that present techniques and tips about repair and restoration. You may find "Encyclopedia of American Farm Tractors". In books like the former you'll likely find names of companies or clubs dedicated to the particular make. The best items to acquire are specific manuals, both operator and repair & parts, for your machine. These you may find at any of many companies or individuals who advertise on WWW. In some cases you may find what you're looking for in the archives here at UC Davis, where the Special Collections department of the University Library maintains a large collection of original literature and can make xerox copies of catalogued items on a per-page cost basis. Our experience at the Antique Mechanics Club has been that usually you can figure something out, but it's usually a lot faster with a book in hand.

The second step is to search the web for local tractor and equipment shows, where any number of hobbyists are enthusiastic about helping newcomers.

If you happen to be working on a machine just like any one that is in the Collection, we may be able to expedite your search for information and parts.

Otherwise, because we don't have any links listed right here, you may want to click over to our Links page or simply do a WWW search for "antique tractors", and then journey through the web that will take you around the world. Happy journies.