Errol McGuinness tractor and light machinery restorations is probably Ireland’s best known and most highly respected classic tractor restorer.

This notoriety comes from his close links with some of the country’s best known and highest quality tractor collections.

Errol’s business is based in North County Dublin, nestled between some of the biggest vegetable and fruit growers in the country.

Errol started down the restoration route in 2003 when he decided that a family-owned Ford 8000 that was standing in a field looking a bit sad and could do with a renovation.

This “bit of a tidy” turned into a full nut-and-bolt restoration. It was when this tractor was seen out and about at local events that people started to ask if he would “do” tractors for them. Errol started to take on bit of work and it slowly built up to the business it is today.

Back in 2003, the restoring game wasn’t as hectic as it is now and prices of classic tractors were sensible in comparison to the astronomical figures that we see currently.

Errol has worked on nearly every brand of tractor over the years but sees himself as a blue man at heart. When I was in the workshop, Errol was just finished a stunning John Deere 1130 and Faun potato planter for well-known local collector and farmer Michael Hoey.

This restoration was undertaken to coincide with the World Potato Conference which is taking place in Dublin this week.

Errol always has three projects on the go at one time. This allows him to stay busy even if parts for one are delayed. He says that it is getting harder and harder to find good original and genuine parts for tractors. Currently he is looking for an AP cab for a Ford 7610 – this cab would have been a common sight on many Irish farms in past times but now they are getting very rare.

Issues like this are making it more difficult to finish tractors to the standard he wants, on time and on budget.

Currently on the workshop floor is the completed John Deere and planter waiting to be polished, a painted belly of a rare County and a grimy undercarriage of a 100 series Massey at the very start of the process.

The process is meticulous. Errol removes every nut and bolt from the body of the tractor before any repair or painting is done. This means that no paint gets on to anything that it shouldn’t.

All the removed bolts and fittings are sent to be plated the correct colour or replaced if they are damaged or may take from the aesthetics of the finished tractor. Errol prides himself on doing things properly and not covering up problems.

Buying the right tractor

Errol says that spending a small bit more money and spending a little more time hunting down a good solid tractor is half the battle. It is very easy for a rougher tractor to end up costing far more to turn around than the extra spend on a good start point.

Errol has seen both ends of the spectrum from the stunners that just need a small bit of tidying to tractors that literally crumbled before his eyes. He has learned over the years and is now able to spot the problems before he starts and avoids the real basket cases as much as possible.

About three years ago, Errol was contacted by a collector in the UK who had a trio of tractors to be restored. This was a big undertaking for Errol and his team but he took it on. The three tractors were a Ford 7600 2wd, a Ford 7710 4wd and a Massey Ferguson 3125.

The tractors arrived on the back of a truck from the UK and the work began immediately.

The before and after photos are very impressive. About two years later the two blues and the red were loaded on to a truck and trailer and shipped back to their UK owners to sit in their extensive collection.

The fact that a UK collector trusted Errol to undertake the restoration of these valuable tractors proves that he is held in very high regard among collectors in Ireland and across the water.

Over the years, Errol has taken on some oddball projects. The one that stands out is a Fordson Dexta which he fitted with a 2.8 V6 petrol engine from an ambulance. Despite probably not being a concourse winning transformation, it is a masterpiece of engineering and ingenuity. Errol reckons that it could reach a top speed of 60mph if you were brave enough to hold on.

A Modern Kubota 3-cylinder diesel engine was fitted to a Massey Harris Pony, not a conversion that you see every day.

If anyone wants a tractor to be given the full treatment by Errol, he will not tell you when it will be ready but he does say that it will be done properly. He says budgets of between €2,000 and €25,000 have been spent on tractors over the years. Sometimes the amount spent doesn’t seem to add up but it’s the love of the tractor that means the spend makes sense to the customer, and you can’t put a price on memories.