After eight years of driving him crazy, David Riddle’s tractor is finally road-ready.
Sprayed with at least 60 cans of Wattyl paint and sporting a newly obtained registration plate, the Timaru man’s 1947 British Motor Boats tractor is bringing a touch of history to the neighbourhood.
Mr Riddle said the enginered President was not a common sight in New Zealand, which had made rebuilding it complex.
When he purchased it in 2015, it was all in pieces on a pallet.
He had used YouTube to restore it, while his partner had researched it online and a friend had lent him a book.
A lot of tractor specialists did not want to know him because it was not a John Deere, he said.
A few things had set him back over the years: the death of his mother had resulted in the tractor being pushed to the front of the shed and neglected for a year; in October, his pampered pooch Joey had an operation costing more than $2000; and then there had been his own health.
Mr Riddle has Scheuermann’s disease, which has resulted in curvature of his spine.
‘‘It slows you down a bit.’’
While he had previously had the tractor up and running, it had been off the road for a year after a head burst, and he had searched through vintage car clubs for a new head, he said.
The restoration had cost him and his partner $8000.
It should have cost $7000, but it had come to more due to mistakes made — but they had skimped where they could, he said.
When the motor had required work — which would have cost him $10,000 — he had purchased an entire car to use the motor from that instead.
They had collected the two door Morris Minor from Darfield, finding it on Facebook for $400.
The tractor would be on display at the Fairlie New Year’s Day parade. But for now, there would be no more tractors.
‘‘It has cost me too much.’’
Instead, he wanted to relax and spend time with his partner and their pets.
