Apparently St. Patrick's Day is 2 Weeks Long

Light posting this month is the result of a busy schedule. I do have many things planned for the month of April including:

1. A Farm Toy scavenger hunt
2. Spring planting pictures of real tractors and toys
3. A feature on the wonderful world of 1/87 (Thats HO for you railroad folks)
4. A custom planter build
5. A custom plow build
6. How to make your own 7488
7. Details over on my other site about making remote controlled cars go really fast.
8. And more

So visit frequently to see if I can be more punctual with my posts.

Also the farm toy rumor mill (if there is such a thing) is buzzing with word of 2 new 24 row planters. I'll try to get more information on those.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Many Internet sites you visit today will change their colors or put up articles to honor St. Patrick's day. Here at Zac's Tractors I don't have the option of that since my site is ALWAYS green. I still want to celebrate, so I've decided that I will post some pictures of my favorite green tractor. And I thought that this was such a great idea that I've decided to post a green tractor each day this week.

The John Deere 8530 Authentic Series #1 is one of (If not the most) detailed 1/64th scale tractor ever made. It features metal wheels w/ rubber tires (only seen on precision tractors), clear cab glass with an opening cab door (first ever in 1/64), An opening hood with detailed engine, a movable 3pt hitch, and steerable front wheels.

The particular 8530 that I have pictured is one that I removed the rear duals and added rear triples. This adds a unique touch to the tractor that wasn't offered from Ertl. This is one of my favorite customs because it turned out looking like a factory piece, and retained its realistic look that was important to the authentic line of tractors.

The downside is that I had to cut the extra wheels off of the back of another tractor, but that allowed me to add fat duals to the 8530 that lost its wheels. I used the other set of extra wheels on an 8410 John Deere that I will feature in another article.


THE ERTL AUTHENTIC SERIES
Sine I've focused on the initial offering in this series I wanted to write a quick note about the authentics. Ertl saw a window of opportunity with collectors that wanted high detailed 1/64th scale tractors. They responded with this series that offers collectors small tractors with great detail. So far there have been 2 authentics, and a 3rd one is rumored to be released later this year. The first 2 were John Deere tractors (8530, and 4930 sprayer), but the 3rd offering is rumored to be of another color/brand. The first 2 authentics have sold in the $20-25 range and should retain their value. I doubt they will increase for a while because they were available everywhere, bot the authentics are worthwhile to collect because a custom piece with this level of detail would cost HUNDREDS from a custom builder.

Zac's Tractors Reaches 1,000 Views!

I first posted on this blog in November of 2007, so 1,000 hits came up pretty quickly. Now lets all celebrate, and at this rate we will reach 100,000 posts in 50 years.

New Blog Same Blogger

Here is your #1 Internet source for a toy tractor collector trying to build a 100mph remote controlled car. Which coincidentally may be your only Internet source for this. At any rate please feel free to peruse my other site which will act like an online journal as I reach for speeds no tractor has or will hopefully see.
http://zacsprecisionmotorsports.blogspot.com/

This blog is expanding

Im adding either a new feature to this blog, or a sister site dedicated to a project that I have been working on. Ill give all 3 of my loyal readers a clue.......It weighs about 1 pound..........It goes over 100mph (maybe)........

So look for that in coming weeks. If anyone guesses what it is you win a sticker!

Interesting Model Release

I cant really call this a "New Model Release" since its been out since 2006, instead ill title it an "Interesting Model Release."

The Tampa expo tractor is a mystery to me. The only 3 Tampa tractors I know of are a 6420 made in the early 2000's, and a desk set made before that. I think that the tractors are made for the John Deere parts distributors & dealers. If anyone of you 5 people reading this have any idea about other models, please post them in the comments section, and ill do a little research.

The 2006 edition of the Tampa show tractor features cab glass, and a yellow imprint on the roof that says "Expo, Tampa 2006." When I dig up my other expo tractor ill post a picture of it.

This 8320 was at a dealer in Michigan for $9, which I thought was a pretty good deal. However if earlier models are any indication, there really hasn't been a huge demand for these. Despite this the fact that there were a limited number produced means that there is potential for an increase in value.

New eBay auctions

Here is a custom 7488 that I put on eBay tonight. This is a very nice model with hand painted details, and accurate custom graphics. You can see this and my other auctions at: http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZzfriess_umich

In a future edition, I will post how to create a 7488 for yourself.