When getting a tractor, a customer has several brands to choose from. There are big names, like John Deere, Kubota, Case, New Holland, each with its own characteristics and image in the customer’s mind. For example, John Deere is considered the “Cadillac” of tractors by most customers. It has a great quality that is hard to beat, but it also comes with a price tag to match.

Regardless of the brand you choose, one of the things you have to deal with is getting tractor parts during the lifetime of your tractor. Sometimes, missing or broken tractor parts can stop agriculture production or construction for days, so delivery time is also a consideration when dealing with tractor parts.

The most obvious solution is to get the tractor parts from the manufacturer or the dealer. Tractors bought directly from manufacturers or authorized dealers come with a guarantee that protects the owner from any malfunction that the tractor might have. This includes repairing and it also usually includes replacement of tractor parts that are necessary for free or for very little.

While this is obviously the best method in general, sometimes the delivery of the part can take a long time, since dealers don’t keep a stock of every piece of every tractor they sell. If the part is small and cheap, you might want to find it elsewhere and get your tractor going as soon as possible

If you live in a place where there is a lot of agricultural activity, chances are there is a tractor salvage yard in the area that buys used or worn tractor parts cheaply, and then sells them for a small margin. If you know your tractor pieces well enough to tell the ones still in working condition from the ones that are no good anymore, then you can get really great deals.

Finally, another great place where you can get tractor parts easily is on the Internet. There are sites that specialize in tractor parts of several brands. Since they buy the parts in bulk, they are able to give excellent prices. Also, they have a fairly good knowledge of what tractor parts are needed on a frequent basis, so unless you have a very rare need, you’re likely to find what you want with them.

Their great power and versatility has made tractors very valuable machines, not only in agriculture, but in other fields as well, out of which, perhaps the most important one is construction.

Some manufacturers build tractors for specific areas, such as agriculture, while others build general all purpose tractors. There are only a few companies that build tractors for several different applications, as well as generic, all purpose tractors. Among these, one of the most important ones at the world level is Case Tractors.

Case Tractors is how most people know the company. Its real name is CNH Global. Case Tractors is another example of the American dream, a self made man who made it big through his inventive, vision, and plain hard work. Jerome Increase Case, a young man from the state of New York, read a magazine about machinery while he was still a kid, back in 1831. The article was about the first reaper machine, which was something that captured Jerome’s imagination. This inspired him, and when he became a young man, he moved to Wisconsin, where he founded what would become Case Tractors in 1842. Of course, in that moment, it wasn’t called Case Tractors, but J I Case Company.

The base of the company’s early success was the development of the first American steam engine used for agricultural purposes. Jerome Increase Case went from a young farmer’s son, to becoming an industrial who founded Case Tractors, a banker, a horse owner, mayor of Racine and even state senator twice.

Case Tractors, of course, continued to grow and outlived its founder. Today, Case Tractors are no longer steam powered, but use gas engines, like most modern tractors do. In addition, Case Tractors come in several different models, used for varied and specific applications. In fact there are two very clear divisions, agriculture and construction, and both are among the first companies of the world in their own divisions. You can find both general purpose tractors or very specific ones, like a cotton picker and packer. And it all began with one boy’s dream.

People who love antique tractors love them because of the same reasons other people love other types of machines. First of all, because they have a sense of nostalgia, of times where things were different and, according to some, better.

Second, although antique tractors are not as complex as modern tractors, they’re still masterpieces of engineering. In fact, they are even more amazing considering that knowledge about machinery was much more rudimentary than it is now, and many materials and concepts weren’t available back then.

Finally, antique tractors provide fans with the fun challenge of learning tons of trivia about brands, years, models, parts, etc. Just like a wine lover can tell a good year from a bad one, and a car lover can tell from which year to which year a specific car model was produced, lovers of antique tractors get a kick out of discussing brands, models, spare parts, manufacturing places, and every pro and con of these. And of course, they take great pride in being able to say the name of a tractor or a part of it only by looking at it.

Just like other types of hobby that involves antique machines, there is an expensive way and a cheap way to antique tractors.

The expensive way, of course, involves buying actual antique tractors. Just like collecting antique cars, collecting antique tractors is something that is only available to the wealthy, who can dedicate money and space for their machines. While their collection will not be as impressive as an antique car collection, it’ll really astonish antique tractors lovers who get the opportunity to see it.

Also, just like antique cars, antique tractors are most impressive when they are still in working conditions. In fact, the condition of the tractor affects greatly its value. If the tractor is still in good condition, with original parts, and original non-worn paining, it’ll be much more valuable. Of course, it’s difficult to find such antique tractors, since most of them were used for many years in heavy duty, but that’s more the reason of their high value.

On the other hand, the cheap way involves what most of us do: learning, studying, memorizing and talking about antique tractors with other people who share the hobby. Some people collect tiny tractor models for amusement, but that’s not as common as they’re hard to come by.