psychocontractorguy 12 #1 Posted July 30, 2014 This story starts a couple of months ago.... In addition to the 312-8 and Raider 12 I have, I had a 1950 Shaw Du-All R5 tractor that I restored. Not being able to find implements to fit it (for a decent price), I decided to sell it to fund more Wheel Horse fun. The Shaw was on Craigslist for a total of two hours before I got the call from a gentleman who wanted it worse than I did. After using a bit of the money to help finish up the Raider, a friend called me to say that a neighbor of his had a 1979 C81 sitting in his yard for $275. I went over there, and after some haggling, I came home with a running C81 with 36" RD deck for $250. At this point, I had another resto project, and I thought I was done buying horses for a good long while. How wrong I was! My parents were helping a lady from their church clean up her yard/house after her husband (who was a bit of a packrat) passed away. Tucked in among the junk, they found a 1964 1045 and a 1972 Bronco 14. My dad called me immediately. The lady's son-in-law told her the pair of them were only worth $40 (his estimated scrap value). I told her I'd give her $100 for the 1045 and $50 for the Bronco, which was completely overgrown with vines and not rolling, even with the relief valve open. She was absolutely thrilled, and when I realized the only money I had on my person was a 100 and two 20's, she thanked me and said that the extra $10 was quite unnecessary. Oh, and there were two gear-drive RD decks and a short-frame snowplow in the woods, too After assessing the 1045's condition, I thought it should run with a little help. I pulled the head, found a stuck exhaust valve, and with some lapping, cleaning, and adjustment, I had the tractor running within a few hours. Restoration began immediately. It took a lot of work, but she went for her maiden voyage last night, and ran pretty well. I am still missing the starter/generator belt guard, so if anyone has one for sale at a reasonable price, I'm in the market. Here are the pics. I'll try to post more detailed restoration pics in the resto/mod forum. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JERSEYHAWG / Glenn 4,487 #2 Posted July 30, 2014 psycho,,,,,very nice. I like a bargin thrown in with a good story. Thanks for posting. Glenn Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AMC RULES 36,934 #3 Posted July 30, 2014 Really does look good. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CasualObserver 3,406 #4 Posted July 30, 2014 Great story, thanks for sharing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
speedyleedy 205 #5 Posted July 30, 2014 Great job on the 1045 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites