STERLING, Ohio — A tractor restoration project that started out as just another winter time activity netted a Sterling, Ohio, man, $2,000 and the first place in the Majic Paint Tractor Restoration Contest.
John A. Cole bought a 1952 Farmall M with a wide front end at an auction near Marysville, Ohio, about 100 miles from his home in December 2013. The tractor had the bottom in it but no engine or wheels.
Cole had been laid off from his construction job for the winter, so the tractor went straight into the shop on the farm.
Soon after, Cole and his fiance, Lisa Gabbert were shopping at Rural King in Wooster purchasing paint for the Farmall M when the advertisement for the contest caught Ashley’s eye and she told Cole he should enter the contest.
After months of sanding, tracking parts down and painting, the tractor was finished in the summer of 2014 with the help of Cole’s friends, Rick Fulton and Mark Resor for their help with wrenching and painting the sheet metal.
Although it took a little poking and prodding, Gabbert told Cole they should send some pictures in to the Yenkin Engine Majestic Paint Corporation in Columbus, Ohio, of the before and after project. The contest included entries from 24 states.
Then in early January 2015, Cole got the call he wasn’t expecting. He had won first place in the contest.
Cole said he already put the tractor to use last summer on his farm and displaying it at shows in his area.
“We’ve had some fun on it,” said Cole.
This winter, Cole is renovating a 1953 Super M but in year’s past he has restored a Farmall Super A, Farmall C and a Farmall M when he was 14 years-old.
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