Restoration Pays Off For Ex-Farmer

Restoration Pays Off For Ex-Farmer 28-4-8 Tractor painting and restoration is a part-time business for 54-year-old Gary Swensen of Yankton, South Dakota, since he quit farming a couple of years ago. He's been doing custom work for people off and on for several years and works out of a small shop at his rural home. Always one to have more than one iron in the fire, Swensen has also gone back to college, and is taking a double major û History and Criminal Justice. However, as a youth, he had gone to tech school and studied body and fender repair, as well as auto mechanics. "Over the years, that training has been very beneficial to me," he says. "Doing this kind of work again is something I really enjoy. No job is too large or too small." Swensen recently did a job where the customer wanted his tractor sandblasted, primed and painted. Other times, tractors come in that are already cleaned up and all he has to do is paint them because the owners plan on using them and don't want the dents removed. He has his own trailers that he uses whenever clients require pick up or delivery. He can accommodate units weighing up to 20,000 lbs. Swensen recently sold a unit he had restored and was hired to deliver to St. Louis, Missouri. Prices for Swensen's painting and restoration vary depending on the job. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Gary Swensen, 1408 Sunrise Drive, Yankton, S. Dak. 57078 (ph 605 665-8637 or 605 660-3489; email: g_swensen@msn.com).

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