The old saying about one man’s junk being another man’s treasure isn’t just a bunch of words to three Lorain County boys, especially when that junk is an old tractor.
Clayton Jones, 12, of Avon, has spent the better part of the summer restoring a 1964 Simplicity tractor.
“It was a piece of junk, a rusted thing sitting in the back of our shed,” Clayton said. “My dad wanted to get rid of it, but we thought I could do it as a 4-H project.”
Though it’s a small tractor, the project has taken a lot of work.
Luckily, few mechanical parts needed replaced. After it was taken apart piece by piece, the outside was sandblasted and primed, followed by more sanding before paint could even be applied, Clayton said.
The finishing touches still needed to be applied a couple weeks before the fair.
“My dad helped on a couple of things,” Clayton said. “We did a good job. I can’t wait for the fair to show it off.”
Clayton hopes to sell the tractor at the Engine Show in Wellington after the fair, but if it doesn’t sell, he can always use it for something around the small farm where he lives.
Clayon, who has been with the All-American Farmers 4-H club for the past two years, usually trains dogs for the fair.
The Keystone Middle School student says rebuilding the tractor is the biggest project he has undertaken — so far.
John DeChant's tractor.
Sixteen-year-old John DeChant of the Tri-City Critters agrees that rebuilding a tractor is a tough job, but he enjoys doing it so much that he’s done it twice now.
He restored a 1939 Allis Chalmers Model B that he purchased from his neighbor for this year’s fair and two years ago, he restored a tractor that his grandfather gave to him.
He’s had the Allis Chalmers since June 2007 and has been working on it here and there ever since. Although with the fair only a couple of weeks away and work still to be done, John said he wasn’t worried.
“I tried to start it the second day I had it, and it didn’t run for another year,” he said.
“It needed quite a bit of everything,” he said. “The body was in decent shape, but there was a quite a bit of mechanical work.”
From a new radiator to new water gaskets and paint, the 16-year-old Avon High School student was doing it all.
He learned some of his mechanical skills from his dad, as well as from helpful neighbors.
“It takes a lot of time,” John said.
But in the end, it’s all worth it, he said.
The 1949 Farmall Cub that his grandfather gave him still runs. His dad uses it to cultivate the garden.
“I’ll never get rid of that because my grandpa gave it to me,” John said.
He isn’t sure what he will do with the Allis Chalmers after the fair.
The 1974 Cub Cadet that Jared Kromer’s grandfather purchased new 35 years ago was still running through 4.5 acres as recently as two years ago. When it finally went kaput, Jared’s grandfather thought of selling, but then decided to give his grandson a crack at it.
“My dad is a mechanic and I’ve helped him with a few cars here and there, but this is the first project I’ve done on my own,” the 15-year-old Firelands High School student said.
While the tractor’s body was in “OK shape,” Jared decided to completely redo the entire tractor, taking it down to the block, sanding and painting everything all over again. In order to get it to run again, he replaced the oil seal.
“It was a fun 4-H project, and it’s something that we’ll be able to use for years ahead,” he said.
Jared began working on the tractor on Feb. 25 and like the other boys, still had some finishing touches to add before the fair.
“I’m starting to put it back together, but I’m waiting on some parts,” he said with the fair only weeks away. “The engine is in pieces. The tractor is in pieces.”
The Brownhelm Perfection and BB’s 4-H club member said he has it all under control, though — as long as everything runs once it is put back together.
Contact Christina Jolliffe at 329-7155 or ctnews@chroniclet.com.
