For fun: what was your first tractor ? What made you drag it in ? How long ago was that ? (Or you've been addicted How long ? And it started how ? )

[Rustyoldjunk]

So just for fun what was you first vintage or antique garden tractor ?
What made you want it or how did you end up with it ?
And when was that ? How long have you had the GT addiction?
I'll start.
I bought my first in '93.
I grew up on a small farm. We had Deere 2 cylinder tractors but no garden tractors or even a riding mower.
So my belief back then was that the little riders were all just riding mowers,I had no idea of what a garden tractor was.
I got married in my early 20s and we had a little MTD riding mower.
A buddy,who had been telling me about his uncles "long hood" Wheel Horse tractors, drug home a Allis Chalmers 700 series with electric lift to play with. I was amazed at how heavy it was built,then a while later the Allis was gone but he drug home a early 70s Cub and again I was amazed by how heavy it was built.
We were playing with the Allis and the Cub using them both pretty hard. I couldn't do that with my wife and I's little MTD rider,I would break it (and she would've beaten me ).
So a friend had this old garden tractor or what was left of it sitting beside a pond in heavy woods just off a field.
I played him $25 for it and had an incredible time getting it out of there by hand and back to the truck.
That was in '93 and I had no idea what I had drug home.
It said Simplicity 700 on the badges and I just thought it was some off brand machine. I had never around GTs to speak of and knew nothing about them or the different brands.
It was in horrible shape. The tires were dry rotted completely off of it. It had a stuck valve,no carb,no exhaust,etc.
I still have that 700 today. It has been thru a few engines,a few front axles ( because of axle wear,always looking for a less worn axle),a few pairs of front spindles,ect.
I put the rear wheels and tires on it that are on it now in 93. They were weather cracked then and worse today but I have never had a flat. I put the front tires on it in 2000 or 2001 and have never had a flat.
This tractor does all kinds of work. Tows my big trailer,mows,plows the garden,dozes,ect....all these years and I still have never gotten a correct seat on it.
Well,I have had boatloads of tractors thru the years and gained tons of knowledge and at times had what some consider way too many tractors and way too many parts around.
I am on my second (and last) marriage and my wife has been incredibly good with me thru the years in this hobby.
So how did you get into the antique / vintage garden tractor hobby and when did you start ?

 

[poncho62]

My 1st wasn't really mine, but it got me going on tractors, I guess....I was 10 and I would cut grass with my dad on this rich guys estate. My dad was a property maintenance guy, so always had machinery around and was fixing them. As I grew older, I got into cars more, but got back into the tractors when I bought this property.

 

[TAHOE]

The tractor that got me the bug was this 68 SS12 I inherited from my wife's uncle before he passed. He said he knew I would appreciate it as his nephews were not into that stuff. I got it in 2005, but it sat in the barn for ears until I bought my 16/6 in 2011, then the tractor fever snowballed.
The tractor that I grew up on was a 1970 AC HB212, it's still sitting in my barn. Neither run....someday.

 

[KennyP]

Back in the early 90's, I was given an 80's Sears GTV/16. It had no engine or deck with it. Another person gave me an Onan B43 and I married the two. Along with the GTV, I was given a Sears sleeve hitch blade. This started it all. I still have it and the blade. This pic was soon after I put 26 X12's on it in 2011.


This taken the following Spring after some makeup was applied.

 

[SimplyRad]

My addiction never started until about 3 years ago but my fondness for the AC/Simplicity line started way back is 1968 when I bought a new 2110 Simplicity with hydro lift an a tiller, deck and cultivators. That wife and I split in 1978 and she then got rid of it. In 1995 I bought some lots to build a house so I needed a tractor to work in the yard so I got a used 3410 with deck and tiller. Got the blade later. Then 3 years ago I started wanting another so I located the 7012H and had engine problems right off the trailer, p*ss poor mechanic did a poor job of installing rings. Ended up putting a K341 in it.

 

[Propane1]

In 1992 I bought a house with a yard that had more grass to cut than I wanted to do with the used lawnboy push mower, that I bought in 1987 for our first house, I still have the lawnboy, so I went looking for a ride on mower. Ended up with a 8 hp toro. Smoked some, but ran good. That winter I made a snow plow for it. Wrapped nylon rope around the rear tires for chains. Worked great and had a lot of fun with it. The next summer I started doing a few extra lawns. The toro could not take the extra work and it quit. That’s when I bought the new 1993 yard king. 12 hp 38” cut. Boy what a tractor. I traded the toro in on the new tractor. $1600.00 in 1993 for the yard king. Which I still have. That winter the toro snow plow, which I made, went on the yard king. Same thing for chains on the yard king as the old toro. The snow plow I made for the toro is still in use today but modified some and is used on my MF 12 loader.
That how I got started at tractors. No pictures of the toro.

Noel

 

[Toomanytoys84]

My garden tractor love got started with the cub 128 dad bought when I was a kid, but I always loved tractors. As soon as I could walk, we couldnt' go through sears without me sitting on every tractor in the store! Dad reminds me of this frequently when my kids drag me off the beaten path of a goal in a store to go look at something. He said if sears had 30 tractors on the floor I had to sit on all 30 and some more than once.

My first garden tractor I bought for use on my own property was an Ariens GT17 in 2012. I had bought others but they were restored at my Dad's and I got the Ariens GT17 at auction for a great price and solely wanted to use it at my place. My first home I purchased had a small yard, and a push mower and 20 minutes would take care of it.

I quickly sold that Ariens GT17 as it was a mess of problems. Best of all was the deck would fall off and I'd drive over it when mowing. The KT17 was using oil, and it was rough in many areas. Solid built machine, but it had a hard life. After that I just used one of the cubs down at Dad's to mow with. I always have the bug to buy more, but with so many machines sitting in sheds at Dad's there is no more room for anymore. The John deere 110 I just got is sitting outside under a tarp.

 

[chieffan]

First experience with a GT or LT, don't remember which is was now. Was working in the State Parks system and they had Cub Cadets with around 36 - 38" decks. Then they went to the snapper rear engine mowers. Those were the real work horses for mowing machines. About 8 years ago was t an auction where they were selling a couple Bolens one of which was a 1050 Had a deck mounted, a blade sitting in front and the auctioneer said there was a snow blower in the building that went with it. Bidding stalled at $225, I bought it for $250. Later I found out the auctioneer was wrong and the snow thrower was to go with the other Bolens. So didn't get the snow blower and had already paid for what I bought. No recourse except I have not been to one of his auctions since. Anyway, that was my first GT and the herd keeps growing.

 

[larrybl]

My Tractor hobby began in 1997 when I retired from the Military at Ft. Hood Texas and purchased 5 acres of Texas prairie and moved there. All I had at the time was a push mower (Hinz-57) as it was cobbled together from several pawn shop purchases, and an 88 Buick. Started clearing the yard 10 feet at a time by raking and shoveling rock and cactus into a trash can in the trunk of the 88 Buick. I quickly realized I needed more lawn equipment.
The first GT I got was from a co-worker, it was an 11 hp Montgomery Wards, This one was not named, (left one in the picture) and I used (and rebuilt it several times). I build a cart for it and my first shop (a lean-to). I picked up my first Craftsman and a tiller as the yard was growing larger. With the new shop I was able to work on a variety of mowers that I picked up here and there. My Grandson started hanging out with Pap-Pap in the shop.

6,

 

[Lily'sDad]

Is the government going to get their hands on this info???

 

[Hankg]

The collecting started in 2010 for me when a friend asked me to come down to his garage, there sat a perfectly restored Speedex S19 I was so taken aback by its beauty I knew right then and there I wanted one. My first machine was a 58' WH-RJ.

I was enamored by the small tractor, little did I know at the time it was a very sought after machine.
I decided it would be a fun project to restore and started looking on Ebay for parts, that's what opened my eyes about the
the hobby I wasn't alone, I had no idea how popular collecting was at the time. I then found GTTALK , went to a few shows in PA. where I saw a lot of different brands I was not aware of . I found that I liked the off brand machines the best, I was bitten
hard and as my knowledge grew I wanted more and more of them, which brings me to where I am today out of room
and still wanting more.