A trusted writer and instructor on the restoration of tractors--from Ford and Farmall to John Deere--Tharran Gaines provides a complete, clearly detailed, step-by-step guide to painting your tractor for that perfectly authentic look. It’s the finishing touch and the first thing anyone will see; the paint job is an essential step in tractor restoration, and the techniques can be a bit unfamiliar, a bit daunting. This easy-to-follow how-to book takes the guesswork and anxiety out of the process and assures you of getting just the look you want for your vintage farm machine.

Beginning with metal cleaning, preparation, and bodywork repair, Gaines covers primer and paint types; matching vintage paint colors; and painting equipment and techniques. He concludes with decal and emblem placement and application and finishing techniques.

This book is easy to follow, without getting too technical or complicated, but still goes into enough detail to explain why one method might be better than another…Overall, I found it to be a very good book on the topic. There were tips and tricks that I hadn’t heard of before, ones that the seasoned tractor restorers have come up with over the years…Whether you are a first time painter, or have a few under your belt, I think this book would have something for you.

-- Hart-Parr Oliver Collector, May/June 2009

As it turns out, you can make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.  When it comes to painting a rusting hulk of a tractor, all you need is time, money, plenty of elbow grease – and Tharran Gaines’ new book…an indispensable book for any tractor restorer. -- Farm Collector, November 2009

Whether it’s a lovingly restored classic or a trusty workhorse still doing daily chores, nothing makes your favorite tractor look better than a great paint job. In How To Paint Your Tractor, longtime agricultural writer Tharran E. Gaines offers all the tips you’ll need to give any tractor—be it a Farmall, Ford, John Deere, or Allis-Chalmers—a new, authentic look. With more than 250 photos and step-by-step instructions, you’ll learn everything you need to know about the metal cleaning, surface preparation, and bodywork repair that need to be done before applying the first coats of primer and paint. Also inside is information on matching vintage paint colors and the latest in painting equipment, as well as decal and emblem placement and finishing techniques to make your labor of love stand out from the rest.

Tharran E. Gaines, who writes manuals and assembly instructions for many agricultural equipment powerhouses, is the author of Voyageur Press’ How to Restore Classic Farm Tractors, How to Restore Classic John Deere Tractors, How to Restore Classic Farmall Tractors, and the forthcoming How to Restore Classic Ford Tractors. Tharran lives in a 100-plus-year-old Victorian home in Savannah, Missouri.