Drive By Shooting

The term "drive by Shooting" was not something I came up with. It's been around a very long time. In the tractor restoration world, it is used to describe a very poorly prepared & executed paint job on a tractor or other equipment. It is also a term used to instantly convey the inferior quality of the job. And more often than not, you will find this type of paint job being done either by very talented people who just want to boost the cost of a tractor to an unsuspecting buyer, or a paint job that was done by someone who was just lacking in experience & knowledge.

When it comes to painting a tractor, or anything else for that matter the surfaces must be prepared in advance & according to their need. If you ever painted a wall in your house, you certainly would first remove any wall hanging like paintings or framed photos. Then you would dust, wash & clean the surface. Fix any holes cracks or other imperfections in the surface before you apply any finish coat. At least that's the way it's suppose to be done for a decent looking, long lasting job. Otherwise, why bother. Why not just take a bucket of paint and throw it on the wall, grab your roller or your brush & smooth out the runs & drips & call it a day!

In my opinion, you can't paint a tractor or any other equipment that is fully assembled. With a tractor it's just not possible to do. Most of the time, painting is only the final step in tractor restoration or maintenance. Generally the tractor or attachment will have been disassembled for inspection and/or repair. Then completely striped of any original paint. The surface will have been sanded smooth, degreased & free of any dust , dirt or other contaminates. Then primed & top coated with all the proper sanding between coats. Inspected & if necessary, the entire process repeated if necessary to achieve the results you are looking for.

Simply masking off the item & getting out your trusty rattle can or sprayer & having at it & declaring it a job well done is a "drive by shooting". On the high end, it's something often done by people with a lot of talent who are just in this business to sell tractors. A great looking paint job is a distraction from a lot of other issues that might be surrounding the item in question. For instance, many times these paint jobs are the item being sold. What I mean by that is that a really good looking paint job has eye appeal. It becomes the main distraction so that a buyer easily overlooks what is under the paint. Also sellers know that an unsuspecting buyer is not going to start scratching away or rubbing the surface in fear of hurting that super fantastic paint job to check things out.

One time I was looking at a tractor for sale that was too good to be true & it had a fantastic paint job on it but the person trying to sell me on it kept telling me about all the effort that was put into restoration. At one point I asked him what specifically was restored, besides the paint & decals? He told me the entire machine was taken down & re built from the frame up. Well his claims of complete & total restoration from the frame up started to change when I asked him to see his records on the restoration in the way of parts invoices & anything else he could show me. Then I asked him to loosen a few bolts on the frame so I can look under the bolt heads & nuts. I was asked why. I told him I want to be sure that this tractor was completely taken down. Obviously I was looking for evidence & if this was a "drive by shooting" the paint under those fasteners would tell the story.

Painting a tractor is no easy task. To do it properly requires a lot of time, hard prep work & expense beyond a can of paint. Determine what your end objective is. Working tractor, expo quality tractor, or keeping the rust off. This can determine how far you want to go into the process. But I said it earlier & it deserves repeating. There is really no way to paint a tractor other than complete disassembley. But I also said this is my opinion. I would much rather have a tractor or attachment that was mechanically sound & working. And a worn out faded paint job that was forty years old & still solid rather than some make it look great drive by job which in my opinion devalues the item. Remember that the first rule of the restorer is: Do No Further Harm.

Jerry