Possible Porsche Tractor in Hokkaido Japan

[Greg]

Hi all

It has been some months since I have been able to look at DDK, but I am now back at home in Hokkaido and looking forward to renewing participation.

A Japanese friend who runs a construction company locally was cleaning up a site prior to commencement of work the other day and came across an old tractor - quite small - that nobody knew anything about. Someone, however, suggested it might be a Porsche, but apparently without any real conviction.

I happened to drop in at his workshop late today and he asked me - on the strength of having the 911S and the 964 - to venture an opinion. As it was all rugged up under tarpaulins in the snow, it was pretty hard to see - just the front grille section being visible. Sometime soon, on a fine day, I'll go back and peel it all way for a better look.

In a classic case of the blind leading the blind, I said I thought it might well be. I've looked at some pics online tonight and am pretty sure it is. Can anyone here tell from the very limited front view that it is actually a Porsche, and if so, what model and age?

Sorry there is not more to go on at this stage.

Cheers
Greg

[butzsi]

Hi Greg,

I think it is either a 1961 Standard Star 219 (2 cylinder) or a 1962 Super 329 (3 cylinder) as the air grille is correct for those years and you can see the fixing holes for the bright trim that ran along the "spine" of the bonnet. The plate at the lower front is not normally seen on Juniors, only the larger tractors. There will be a plate on the right hand side of the mainframe that will give the type number of the tractor and the year of manufacture.

I really must get out more!

Chris

[Greg]

Well, if people like you DID get out more Chris, the rest of us would never know anything.

Thanks very much indeed for the prompt response.

Having googled them both, I agree they look like the prime candidates.
I think he is hoping to begin restoring it once spring comes and he can move it into the workshop.
Are parts, manuals, etc., still available for these things?
Or any other good sources of information? (Apart from those who don't get out).

Cheers
Greg

[Ian Gunney]

Hi Greg

a great find - mind you just from the snippets you can see, it looks to have been outside for quite some time.

You can get reproduction manuals etc, although finding ones in English has proven difficult (at least for me!) You can get lots of the mechanical parts but like the cars, they aren't particularly cheap!!

Ian

[Greg]

Thank you Ian. That is a little bit reassuring to know. Very little will come from Japan, of course. But having said that, I have now heard - just since mentioning this one to a couple of people - that there is another one somewhere in the district. Allegedly in good running order and still being used on a farm somewhere only about 20 kms away.

Nothing much is going to happen now until Spring, which up here is pretty well May, in any case. So then we can get the covers off this one and have a good look at it, and I'll track down the other one for some photos.

All the best
Greg

[Greg]

Well Spring has finally sprung in Hokkaido and the covers have come off the mystery tractor. It did turn out - as Ian suggested - to be a Standard Star and definitely a two cylinder, and I believe 1961 will be correct. The plate attached to the right hand side shows the 219 designation and a chassis no., and a further stamping (or embossing) under the engine on the left side includes the number 61.

It is not in great shape, but probably not as bad as I had thought it might be from the original glimpse I got of it some months ago under snow. The engine in particular looks very clean and dry and not degraded anywhere near as much as the overall body. All the main elements of the chassis and general bodywork are not all that bad either. Dash and instruments, etc., are obviously worse for wear, but very little rust anywhere except the surface stuff, mainly on the front bonnet. No holes evident anywhere.

I'd be really grateful for any comments, prospects for restoration, best and worse case scenarios for cost (perhaps apart from the engine - the bloke who rebuilt my 911S and looks after it mechanically for me will most likely do the engine here in my garage as a labor of love - so parts will be the main cost), and perhaps point me in the direction of any more useful information on the beast. I haven't had a lot of luck turning up very much at all online as yet.

As a matter of interest, when the covers came off, there was a "miniature clone" of the Standard Star under there too. Same color, same bonnet shape and detailing, everything!! I thought another Porsche, but when I found the plate on it, it turns out to be an Iseki (model TB-20). Probably similar vintage, I'd say. Obviously from that early post-war period when Japan rebuilt by copying everything they could get their hands on. I'll try posting more pics of the Iseki later too. The likeness is uncanny.

I think I have also tracked down the other Porsche tractor that was rumored to be in the area, and am scheduled to go to the farm where it lives next week.

Until I work out Photobucket again, here is a URL to go on with.

http://home.att.ne.jp/red/greg/p_tractor/

Cheers
Greg

[Greg]

Well Spring has finally sprung in Hokkaido and the covers have come off the mystery tractor. It did turn out - as Ian suggested - to be a Standard Star and definitely a two cylinder, and I believe 1961 will be correct. The plate attached to the right hand side shows the 219 designation and a chassis no., and a further stamping (or embossing) under the engine on the left side includes the number 61.

It is not in great shape, but probably not as bad as I had thought it might be from the original glimpse I got of it some months ago under snow. The engine in particular looks very clean and dry and not degraded anywhere near as much as the overall body. All the main elements of the chassis and general bodywork are not all that bad either. Dash and instruments, etc., are obviously worse for wear, but very little rust anywhere except the surface stuff, mainly on the front bonnet. No holes evident anywhere.

I'd be really grateful for any comments, prospects for restoration, best and worse case scenarios for cost (perhaps apart from the engine - the bloke who rebuilt my 911S and looks after it mechanically for me will most likely do the engine here in my garage as a labor of love - so parts will be the main cost), and perhaps point me in the direction of any more useful information on the beast. I haven't had a lot of luck turning up very much at all online as yet.

As a matter of interest, when the covers came off, there was a "miniature clone" of the Standard Star under there too. Same color, same bonnet shape and detailing, everything!! I thought another Porsche, but when I found the plate on it, it turns out to be an Iseki (model TB-20). Probably similar vintage, I'd say. Obviously from that early post-war period when Japan rebuilt by copying everything they could get their hands on. I'll try posting more pics of the Iseki later too. The likeness is uncanny.

I think I have also tracked down the other Porsche tractor that was rumored to be in the area, and am scheduled to go to the farm where it lives next week.

Until I work out Photobucket again, here is a URL to go on with.

http://home.att.ne.jp/red/greg/p_tractor/

Cheers
Greg

[Mitch]

Fantastic find Greg! And that's a proper project.

Good luck with searching out the other one...

[Ian Gunney]

Hi Greg

there are a number of sources for spare parts, I think Chris listed some a while back so it's probably worth finding that post. For what it's worth, I've used the following and found them all to be very efficient.

Senger Traktorteile in Germany http://shop.senger-traktorteile.de/Kugelknoepfe/2/

http://www.traktorteile-shop.de/shop/page/3?shop_param=

Porsche Diesel in the USA ( I can give you Sue's contact details if you want)

Manuals came from Schwungrad in Germany

Hard to say about costs - so far, the most expensive thing has been the engine - not only was it time consuming but some of the internals (bearings mainly) were very expensive, but I sourced these through Sue in the US at much less than the costs quoted in Europe.

Love to see more pictures.

Ian

PS I'm still enjoying working on mine and would definitely recommend the experience!