Featured Tractor Of The Month For August 2012

My little girl means the world to me.  Knowing that she wanted to be part of the hobby was exciting for me.  My mind started racing and I decided on the Lawn Ranger that was sitting in the barn as my next project for my little girl.


The tractor was quickly disassembled and sent over to a friend who does sand blasting and powder coating.  He sent me home with a booklet of all the available colors.  I sat down at the dinner table with my daughter and let her pick out which color she liked the best.  Since the tractor was getting a custom color, I figured the rims should be done differently as well.  We decided on a silver that has a metal flake in it.  The motor was partially disassembled and was primed and then painted in a silver metal flake as well.  The tins for the motor were sent to the powder coater for blasting and a coat of pink as well.


Since this was going to be a one of a kind project that I was planning on being special, custom decals needed to be applied as well.  A quick call to a good friend, Terry Dennis, was made.  He was excited to be part of the fun and took out the red in the decals and replaced them with a pink tint.  Everything that was originally linen beige was turned in to a brushed chrome look to tie the rims and motor all together.


Through the winter of 2011 and 2012 knuckles were busted and frustration started to mount.  Every time I made it to this point, I remembered the precious blue eyes that would be riding on this machine in local shows and parades.  The motivation was back in full force!


Fast forward to March 2012 and the tractor was getting closer to completion.  My occupation is an elementary physical education teacher and my daughter attended kindergarten this past year in the building I work at.  I knew she had show and tell each friday and they worked their way through the letters of the alphabet to help narrow down what would be shown each week.  The letter "T" was quickly approaching and I asked her if she wanted to take her tractor to school for show and tell and have the big reveal of the tractor.  Needless to say this would be her first time seeing the tractor complete.  So I took off a Friday, went over to the barn, cleaned up the tractor, and loaded it up.  For those of you that are familiar with the Lawn Ranger model, you are well aware the size of these machines.  I was able to unload it out of the truck and roll it right in the hallway for her to see and share with the rest of her class.


Needless to say, my daughter felt like a rock start that day.  As I stood back and observed her sitting on the tractor around all of her peers, I couldn't stop from smiling.  The look on her face was priceless and the moment will not be soon forgotten.


Now back to the guidelines of this months featured tractor.  As I looked around the barn, I realized I couldn't stop with just the tractor itself.  The tub style trailer was quickly taken apart and sand blasted and powder coated to match.


With all of the tractors that I have tinkered with, this one was the most enjoyable by far.  It holds a very special place in my heart and has become a real topic of conversation.  If you see us at any shows, please stop by and say hello.  Needless to say my wife now wants to be part of the fun, as well as my mom.  Of course they are wanting custom color Wheel Horse's of their own.  The "skittle gang" might be touring parades and shows in the near future!