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.