How much does a restoration cost?

[jaxson stage 0]

I am looking tocrestore my raider 12 completely. What is a good restoration price?

[whfan74 2,066]

To make it look nice.....$1000-$1499, to do it well $1500-$1999, to make it a show stopper $2000+

[SousaKerry 501]

Big part depends on condition and how much you can do yourself.

 

Figure $300 for the engine seals rings and parts, up to about $800 if you need machine work

 

Paint is all up to your quality standards,  I rattle can everything and probobly spend less then $50 on paint.  If your going with Automotive quality paints the sky is the limit.

 

Seals and bearings for the Transmission can range from $50-$100 depending on where you get the parts, would recommend a bearing specialist such as Motion Industries.

 

Miscellaneous replacement parts from Wheel Horse and aftermarket reproductions could be $100-$200 depending on what you need.

 

So low end I would say $500 

 

All this is assuming you are going to do all the work yourself 

 

 

 

BTW

 

and since you are a newbie we will excuse the avatar for now but you may want to change that before you blind someone....

 

They still have not found the last JD guy that came though here,  I think his name was Jimmy Hoffa or something. 

 

["D"- Man 827]

In two words: too much!!! But hey it's fun.

Edited July 16, 2013 by TWIN54

[KATO 115]

I spent about 1400.00 on a full tear down and rebuild on my Raider 10. that was just parts and machine shop time

not my labor (alot) and my tranny only needed seals. so it's not cheap....but that's not why you do a full tear down

Welcome to and have fun

[pacer 3,168]

I just finished a full major rebuild on a 1054 and I estimate the cost in the neighborhood of $1200-1500 with some 400 hours --- but, as mentioned, I have a blast doing this stuff -- beats hanging out at the corner bar.

[Butch 194]

To tear one down, do any body work, painting and then reassembly I would say into the thousands of dollars and that is without any needed parts. There is many hours in these restored tractors. The most economical way to have a restored tractor is to buy one already restored.

[546cowboy 301]

Restorations are fine if you want a 'Show Queen' that you never do anything with but put it in the trailer and go from one show to another. Personally I prefer doing a thorough refurbish and enjoying them for what they were meant to be, working tractors. Now don't get the wrong idea. I do strip the paint off, sand and primer them before the final paint goes on. I do fix whatever needs to be fixed, change oil and filters. I don't however rebuild engines and transmissions, I will replace them and sometimes not with the originals. But when it's done it will be reliable for many years.

 

Your time investment is an unrecoverable expense but is what it's all about. Starting and finishing one is what makes it worth every minute you spent.

Edited July 16, 2013 by 546cowboy

[Lagersolut 648]

I'm going to be in the 1499 - 1999 club  - as you tear into these you find things you weren't planning that need replaced , fixed, welded etc... a lot depends on equipment you have also, I'm short a welder so I needed two trips to the local weld shop .

 

Personally , when I started mine I wasn't planning on getting into it this far money wise, but after it was tore down to the frame on 6x6 blocks , got the fever to just go all the way and do it right .  the 2000+ to make a show stopper I agree with , even with what I have in mine it could be better, I'll be in that 1-2 notch below the show stopper .

 

We'll never get the money out of them we put in them but I don't care about that - it's for me , not for sale and I'm on a mission.....no big box store garbage in my yard or mowing it and I'm not a green guy .

[rmaynard 15,424]

I will have to agree with Scott. I know that I've spent close to $2000 on some of my show tractors, and that does not count my own labor.

Edited July 16, 2013 by rmaynard

[Jake Kuhn 1,554]

As many people said, it all depends on how nice of a restoration you do and if you need parts.My 401 that is restored better than new. I hate to admit, but there is close to 3k in that tractor. At the time I wasn't on redsquare or any other forums so I didn't know where to really get parts. The only collector I knew at the time was papke.  I did everything to it, rebuilt engine and transmission, put a NOS hood on it, painted it with base/clear car paint, powdercoated the wheels, had a stainless steel stack built for it, and put brand new tires on it. The 401 is probably the nicest restore I will ever do. I can do a restoration for around 1000 or less now still up to just as well of standards. I am currently working on repaint of a rj58. I am painting it with rattle can, I did not fill any rust pits other than the hood, and engine shroud. I used the old tires on it, the transmission was rebuilt, but the engine was only gone through, not rebuilt. I would guess I will have less than 500 bucks in the tractor when it is done and I paid 100 for it when I got it.

 

Hope this is somewhat helpful. ~Jake

[Ken B 3,164]

I'll add that it is all going to depend on the condition of the tractor that you are starting with and how much of the work you plan on doing yourself. Personally speaking I don't pay anyone a dime to work on my tractors, mostly because then I won't be able to claim that I did the work myself. I have restored trailer queens in the past, the process of the restoration was quite enjoyable. Once done it was fun for awhile but these tractors sat more than anything else. I know that by the time I was done I had 1500 into one of the Cub 100's I restored, 400 on paint supplies alone and this is going back ten yrs. What happened is I was afraid to use it for what it was meant for. The one time I did decide to use it one of the snow chains broke when I was pulling my son on a sled during a snow storm at night and made a mess out of one of my rear fenders. I did the repairs that spring and sold that Cub 100 to a serious I.H. collector. I've done many restorations since (and refurbs) but nothing to the level of that Cub 100 that I spent a solid yr. restoring. It really all depends on how far ya wanna take it....

Edited July 17, 2013 by Ken B

[speedyleedy 205]

I agree with Ken cost is factored by the amount of work you able to do yourself . Keep it fun  don't worry about having the most expensive paint job  because it's not a competition it's about the friend's you meet & the fellowship !               

[jaxson stage 0]

I think all ill do is give er a nice paint job! Shes runnin perty good now.

[can whlvr 993]

heres one i did for about 1200,completely torn down,new engine guts,bored,tranny got new seals,every thing except new tires

[Kelly 1,029]

I am looking tocrestore my raider 12 completely. What is a good restoration price?

I have read this post a few times, and started a reply a few times, but did not want to offend anyone, a Complete restore, not a fix up and repaint, but a true restore to like new or better than new condition, every nut and bolt removed engine rebuilt, trans rebuilt ect...... I can see several thousand dollars that would be a restore, a refurbish to very good condition near new, maybe not rebuild the engine, or trans, reseal them and inspect, new paint, decals, good used seat, nice used tires, maybe not perfect, but very nice, (depending on what you start with) and using good paint automotive quality, I can see $600 to 1500 lower end if your starting with a nicer machine. this is not counting cost of tractor.   

[Martin 2,131]

on most of my 'rebuilds' there is a fair bit of money in them. keeping in mind that

-i do all the work myself,

-no more than rings, hone, new gaskets etc on the engine block, rebuilt carb, pump, rebuilt or new engine electrical on the engines. 

-rebuilt unidrive, (havent done a hydro tractor as yet)

-all or as much as possible paint is powdercoat done at my employ for free.

-most of the sheet metal is used again or sometimes only one or two pieces are replaced with less damaged or less rusty pieces.....

- i try to go through everything, cosmetically, mechanically or both.

 

numbers wise, without pointing out which tractor is which, i have between $800 on the 'easy', 'quick' one up to $1200 on the most expensive.( these are just estimates and i really dont want to sit down with all the saved receipts and add it up) this doesnt include initial purchase price, just parts that are worn out, tires, electrical wiring, bearings, seals, gaskets, fasteners etc etc. once again, the majority of my paint and all bead blasting/surface prep is free, so that doesnt even come into it.

 

sounds like a lot on just parts, but if you really pull out all the receipts on say just fasteners and small parts that come from the local toro and napa dealers, and add it all up, it adds up really quick!

 

and who ever thinks about the amount of gas they go through running around getting stuff?

 

im just happy that i have a hobby that doesnt take up a lot of room.  .......well when you start out with the first couple, maybe....