After 27 years, Sharps Antique Tractor Works, Inc., has built an honest and dependable business manufacturing and selling thousands of John Deere 2-Cylinder parts.
“At the time we started this business I was restoring cars and trucks when a gentleman approached me wanting to ship tractors to Denmark. I knew where some tractors were and we just went from there,” shared Donnie Sharp, owner of Sharps Antique Tractor Works in Fair Grove, Mo.
Today, Sharps Antique Tractors Works sells new, used and rebuilt parts. “Our manufacturing equipment is from the same era as the tractors we are building the parts for. We also have modern equipment, just like John Deere would have,” explained owner Melanie Sharp.
The parts that Sharps manufactures are tested to ensure they are consumer friendly. Donnie explained, “If I can’t put it on with little work, then we won’t carry it. I use this as a form of quality control. I know it’s going fit.”
There is no middleman when it comes to ordering parts from Sharps Antique Tractor Works. “When someone buys from us they are buying direct,” said Donnie.
Sharps Antique Tractor Works ships an average of 100 orders a day, all in recycled packaging. “A friend of ours from Clever, Mo., goes to local stores and collects used boxes. He brings us a pickup truck load of boxes each week, so we never have to buy boxes. This helps keep our prices low,” said Donnie. Interested buyers can purchase parts online 24/7.
Used parts are in abundance at Sharps. They keep over 1,000 tractors on their property to use for parts and patterns. “We have tractor buyers all across the country but try to buy locally as much as we can. We never leave to buy tractors, they get shipped here,” said Donnie.
As far as tractor restorations go Donnie, Melanie and their employees only work on complete restorations taking the tractors back to factory specifications. “It takes 2-3 years to fully restore tractors. We start with an empty main case,” stated Melanie. “These tractors will have up to 1,000 hours in them by the time we are finished.” They also keep a bay open in their shop for repairs of local farm tractors.
“All of our tractors get used,” added Donnie. “If it is on our place then we are still farming with it.” The Sharps raise registered Texas Longhorns, cut hay and run a sawmill on their Fair Grove property.
The Sharps’ business isn’t just confined to the U.S., they ship all over the world. “We ship complete containers full of tractors and equipment all over the world three to four times a year,” stated Melanie.
The Sharps started shipping tractors overseas 20 years ago. Their first international shipment was to a customer in Denmark. “It is an amazing process. When we load the whole community is involved. We only have two hours to load the containers but there will be hundreds of hours in preparation. In order to export these tractors they have to be extremely clean or else they get quarantined on arrival,” said Melanie. “It’s important for us to know a lot about export.”
Donnie added, “You have to build trust with your customers. Generally, they don’t see the equipment before they buy it.”
One other aspect of the business is selling New Old Stock parts (NOS). “NOS are parts that were bought but never put on. I recently purchased 1,800 pounds of NOS parts. Most of the parts were for horse-drawn tractors up through the early ‘50s,” shared Donnie. “A lot of our customers not only collect tractors but also collect the equipment that goes with them. In this last purchase of NOS we had a 1-row corn planter and three fertilizer boxes for a horse-drawn tractor.”
“With NOS you really have to market it,” added Melanie. “You never know what customers are going to buy. A lot of time and research goes into finding its new home.”
The Sharps have been in the restoration business a long time. They have grown to understand the business and the people in it. Donnie concluded, “We’ve seen this market migrate. Most of our customers and collectors stay in it, they don’t tend to get out because there is a lot of brand loyalty.”
