How old do gt's need to be to be concidered antique?

The largest tractor show that we go to has a year limit of 1975 or older.

Well on the Deere side of the House for Garden tractors I would say Pre 1992 I Know Here in IL 20 years is a antique for Cars & Trucks at least that’s what the IL DMV considers a antique:thThumbsU

I don't think you can compare it to cars and trucks. Up until the 70's GTs and farm tractors were made to last. Cars haven't been made like that since shortly after WWII.

So in general it would be something like:
If it has cupholders or plastic parts then it's not an antique. If it has a cast iron differential or tranny case and a steel engine block and body, then it would be an antique.

Of course if it goes without saying that using this definition, almost any antique - that's not allowed to rust away - will be around to pull all the newer ones to the scrapyard.

But I'm a cantankerous old SOB and an antique myself. :trink40:

Agree about the tractors not being made to last now but not on the cars,my wife's 1998 Toyota Corolla has right at 200,000 miles runs perfect and only drivetrain work has been to have the timing belt replaced twice as prevenative maintenace.How many pre 1950 cars could have done that? 0

Oh, they couldn't have been. Just the tech advances in metallurgy alone would guarantee that. They tried a lot harder back then to build something solid and long lasting, and I think they did as well as possible given what they had to work with. I don't believe they do that today and I believe it's very obvious in anything built after the 50's. When was the term "planned obsolescence" coined?
But a 1998 is not that old of a car, either. Newer than most of mine!

And here I was wondering if our '66 110 would qualify.

I don't really think of ours as an antique, though. That would make me an antique, too.

More like "vintage".

Interesting question. With tractors, it is indeed hard to say. When I lived in Colorado, I'd see the old JD 2 cylinders putting in a days work still. My JD 318 is turning 25 this year, yet it looks to be a very modern tractor. There are very few parts I cannot still get for it, so maybe 25 years is not enough.

Now 2 of my MTD 990s will be turning 40 this year. Getting hard to find parts, and they do look to be from a different era.

But then, a neighbor has a 1938 Allis B (yes, hand cranked still) that he uses a good bit. Coming up on 74 years old and still is used as a tractor.

Why don't you tell us what you think, KC, since the answer is pretty subjective.

I am from the East Coast rule of thumb 20+ years = Antique, Beyond that then "Classic" and OMG that'd old :trink39:

I don't really concern myself with those type of classifications. My collection is primarily '60's tractors. The youngest of my collector tractors is a 1970, and I use it all winter pushing snow. I've taken it to many shows, and never refused admittance. :fing02:

I mow the yard with a 2010 JD X320, doubt if it'll still be around 40 years from now. raying:

Juggler said:

I don't really concern myself with those type of classifications. My collection is primarily '60's tractors. The youngest of my collector tractors is a 1970, and I use it all winter pushing snow. I've taken it to many shows, and never refused admittance. :fing02:

I mow the yard with a 2010 JD X320, doubt if it'll still be around 40 years from now. raying:

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:trink39: Just wanted the definitions so she could decide what she might have. I'am sorta leaning with what D-Dog said. Just trying to help with the topic question, and voice my opinion.:trink39:

Technically doesn't something have to be 50 years old to qualify as an antique? Seems like that's the number I hear antique people throw around.
Vintage, classic, collectable, those are all terms that get throwed around quite freely in automotive circles but meant to mean an old pile of iron that might still move under it's own power.

I could swear I just saw one of those at the big box store last weekend. Lol

I'm with Urban Tractor on this one, 'vintage' instead of 'antique'. When I think antique, I'm envisioning something that does a task, but not near as well as it's modern counterpart.

Like cars and trucks. A car built in 1935 wouldn't last long on Interstate highways going at its max speed. Neither would a 1950 Chevy truck hooked up to a trailer.

But in the case of GT's, the possibilities for advancement are in a much smaller area. Engines - a little more fuel efficient possibly, and the high end ones might last longer. Transmissions - Hydros aren't anything new. Decks - they are setting them up with a higher tip speed nowadays, but the average deck isn't going to last any longer than a vintage one. One area that has improved - hydraulics. Flow rate, and the ability to use multiple circuits. But, Case had that very early in their GT's, so not a big deal, imo.

Sergeant said:

I Know Here in IL 20 years is a antique for Cars & Trucks

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So, a '90 car is an antique now? I don't think so. I'm almost 65 and I think anything made when I was a kid is an antique. Anyway, these catagories probably won't mean anything until some kind of national governing board makes them official.

It's true that old cars don't have the metalurgy/technology of the new ones. Still they were overbuilt. They had heavier gauge metal in the body and extra iron in the block and such. The same with GTs. When did the builders start saving money by making them flimsier? Using alternative materials such as alloys and plastics.

Let me ask another question: what is the Golden Age of GT styling? I would say the late 60s. For cars it was the mid to late 30s.

willowbilly3 said:

Technically doesn't something have to be 50 years old to qualify as an antique? Seems like that's the number I hear antique people throw around.
Vintage, classic, collectable, those are all terms that get throwed around quite freely in automotive circles but meant to mean an old pile of iron that might still move under it's own power.

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The term "antique" is way over used.Furniture for one must be at least 100yrs.to qualify.People use it as a selling feature,to jack the price a tad.It's all just words and how best to decribe an item.I once in time considered antique stuff to be so old an rickidy that it wouldn't be usefull.But the older I get----opps,sorry got off subject.----Your GT or etc.is as you see it,as long as it is yours.:trink40: