Business ideas

[Haykid]

So I just was thinking out loud today and I didn’t come up with anything good so I figured I’d come to you guys and see what you had to say. I’m currently working full time but will be switching to part time here shortly and doing multiple part time gigs but it will allow for some free time. I really enjoy old iron and especially the implement side of old equipment and would like to possibly start doing more with them. I know it’s a dying thing especially for my generation being only 20 so I’d like to get connections and learn as much as I can. I’m daily mechanically inclined but I don’t have any room to start buying tractors and implements and start parting them out or working on them since I don’t have a large enough shop but I would like to start some sort of business working on or dealing with old equipment just to learn more and have fun I don’t have to make millions. I thought of maybe getting into collecting manuals and selling copies or something like that but I wanted to ask on here and see if anyone had other ideas since everyone is so creative and problem solving on here.
Thanks
Haykid

 

[da.bees]

May I suggest a service that cures the disease which causes people to spend money on obsolete tractors and equipment? Your subjects would be members of YT and similar groups but you look to their wives for payment.

 

[ss55]

So I just was thinking out loud today and I didn’t come up with anything good so I figured I’d come to you guys and see what you had to say. I’m currently working full time but will be switching to part time here shortly and doing multiple part time gigs but it will allow for some free time. I really enjoy old iron and especially the implement side of old equipment and would like to possibly start doing more with them. I know it’s a dying thing especially for my generation being only 20 so I’d like to get connections and learn as much as I can. I’m daily mechanically inclined but I don’t have any room to start buying tractors and implements and start parting them out or working on them since I don’t have a large enough shop but I would like to start some sort of business working on or dealing with old equipment just to learn more and have fun I don’t have to make millions. I thought of maybe getting into collecting manuals and selling copies or something like that but I wanted to ask on here and see if anyone had other ideas since everyone is so creative and problem solving on here.
Thanks
Haykid

Check for copyrights. Copyrighted material might not allow any copies to be sold or distributed without the author's/publisher's permission. Reselling used literature and manuals would be legal.

Look into starting a business repairing older equipment. Maybe start by working at a dealership to get some experience and training.

 

[MarkB_MI]

It sounds like you need to build up some job skills that will serve you in the twenty-first century. If you're not interested in working on a college degree, look into either a vo-tech program at a local community college or an apprenticeship program. If neither of these are options where you live, think about relocating. The coming years are not going to be kind to those who don't have marketable job skills.

Yes, that's harsh advice. But please bear in mind that there aren't a lot of people who are willing to pay big money to get their old farm equipment repaired, or to buy it. Yes, there is a market there, but it's limited. But you can do it as a hobby while you work on more marketable skills; maybe it will grow to be a business some day.

 

[craigco]

If you could figure out the legalities if reproduction manuals, if you could reprint them and actually make them readable and pictures clear you could sell quite a few. Currently most reproduction manuals look like they were copied with carbon paper and the pictures are just dark blobs. To me both electronic and hard copy suffer from this.

 

[Tony in SD]

Business 101.
In order to be successful in business you have to be;
unique. Do something no one or few people are doing.
and/or better than people already providing a particular service
and/or find a way to make your product or service profitable but less expensive.
and/or a service that requires a high level of specialized skills.

In my opinion your business plan fails the above criteria and it would be better served as a hobby plan. In my case, I have several antique tractors & implements in various stages of restoration. But there is no way I will ever break even with the cost of restoration. So old equipment is a hobby for me. I made my money following the basics I described above, then engaged in the hobby of antique farm equipment. As most will tell you, it is hard to get your money out of restored antique equipment.

Lastly, I do admire your entrepreneurship. I would take MarkB_MI‘s advice & get some post-secondary education. And keep looking, You will find your dream job so you can support your hobby.

 

[showcrop]

I know that twenty-year-olds don't get sick or hurt, but it can still ruin your life if you don't have insurance. It can be hard to afford any health insurance on part time gigs.

 

[rrlund]

"If you build it, they will come" was just a line from a movie. In my 70 years, I've seen way too many businesses open because that's what the person wanted to do or was what they wanted to sell. Unfortunately it wasn't something anybody else wanted to buy.

 

[JOCCO]

Business 101.
In order to be successful in business you have to be;
unique. Do something no one or few people are doing.
and/or better than people already providing a particular service
and/or find a way to make your product or service profitable but less expensive.
and/or a service that requires a high level of specialized skills.

In my opinion your business plan fails the above criteria and it would be better served as a hobby plan. In my case, I have several antique tractors & implements in various stages of restoration. But there is no way I will ever break even with the cost of restoration. So old equipment is a hobby for me. I made my money following the basics I described above, then engaged in the hobby of antique farm equipment. As most will tell you, it is hard to get your money out of restored antique equipment.

Lastly, I do admire your entrepreneurship. I would take MarkB_MI‘s advice & get some post-secondary education. And keep looking, You will find your dream job so you can support your hobby.

Good advice Tony.

 

[JOCCO]

My thoughts a side or part time gig find stuff to fix up and resell ( start as a hobby) and see what's popular or needed in your area. Some of this stuff you can stay busy but not make a lot of money.

 

[B. White]

Everyone would like to do their hobby for a living, but it may not be as fun anymore when trying to pay bills. I always liked being outside and started school to be able to work on wildlife management areas in our state. After 12-18 months of looking at where the pay topped out, realizing, I'd work most weekends and how bad I hated going to school I bailed out. Took an entry level job in a big company and changed jobs within every couple of years, so it never got boring. I didn't really like some of what I was doing the last couple of years of it, but I was able to leave there at 55 and do what I wanted part-time since.

Ten years before I left I would have said I should have taken a different path and that I would have to work until dead. Maxing out 401K and no eating out for a while made the world look a lot different.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

Before you give up your day job you may want to think about how it will affect your Social Security,

Throughout your working life, you accumulate an earnings record (sometimes called a work record). That’s the foundation the Social Security Administration uses to calculate your benefits, using a three-step process.
First, Social Security adjusts your earnings for historical changes in U.S. wages, takes your 35 best-paid years and produces what it calls your average indexed monthly earnings (AIME). Only income up to the maximum taxable earnings — the annually adjusted cap on how much of your earnings are subject to Social Security taxes — is counted. In 2025, that’s work income up to $176,100.

I was told 55 years ago not to count on SS,
SS is not enough to retire on. Most people on SS can't afford to rent a one bedroom apartment.
You may want to think about investing in something or starting a business and keeping your full time day job.
Sad to say we are all going to get old and at some point our old bodies can't keep up with working.

Get into the union trades. That may be one of the few places that still have a pension.

Look for a career that also offers 401k benefits..

It is your decision to make. Just gave you my 2 cents.

 

[SkipperII]

So I just was thinking out loud today and I didn’t come up with anything good so I figured I’d come to you guys and see what you had to say. I’m currently working full time but will be switching to part time here shortly and doing multiple part time gigs but it will allow for some free time. I really enjoy old iron and especially the implement side of old equipment and would like to possibly start doing more with them. I know it’s a dying thing especially for my generation being only 20 so I’d like to get connections and learn as much as I can. I’m daily mechanically inclined but I don’t have any room to start buying tractors and implements and start parting them out or working on them since I don’t have a large enough shop but I would like to start some sort of business working on or dealing with old equipment just to learn more and have fun I don’t have to make millions. I thought of maybe getting into collecting manuals and selling copies or something like that but I wanted to ask on here and see if anyone had other ideas since everyone is so creative and problem solving on here.
Thanks
Haykid

Sure wish you were in my area. I would love to have a young, eager to learn person to train to work on older tractors and equipment.

 

[Vito]

Many have tired few have succeeded as a full time business doing this. I did it as a side hustle/ hobby. I made some money but not near enough to pay the bills. I had 2 acres to park the part outs. Not everything sells so you end up with considerable scrap over the years.

If you are looking for a career consider working as a deckhand on a tug boat. When you get up to full rate it's about $400 plus a day. Work rotations vary company to company. AI isn't going to take these jobs out.

Vito

 

[Haykid]

So I guess I didn’t really explain my situation real well. I’m training to get into the fire service right now and will be in that within a couple months. Until then I’m still going to be working full time till I transition over to fire department stuff which is 24 on 48 off so it would give me free time on the days off so I’m not looking for full time job stuff more or less just a side gig that I could have fun with and not lose money on. I don’t even care if I made hardly any at all on it

 

[Janicholson]

Business 101.
In order to be successful in business you have to be;
unique. Do something no one or few people are doing.
and/or better than people already providing a particular service
and/or find a way to make your product or service profitable but less expensive.
and/or a service that requires a high level of specialized skills.

In my opinion your business plan fails the above criteria and it would be better served as a hobby plan. In my case, I have several antique tractors & implements in various stages of restoration. But there is no way I will ever break even with the cost of restoration. So old equipment is a hobby for me. I made my money following the basics I described above, then engaged in the hobby of antique farm equipment. As most will tell you, it is hard to get your money out of restored antique equipment.

Lastly, I do admire your entrepreneurship. I would take MarkB_MI‘s advice & get some post-secondary education. And keep looking, You will find your dream job so you can support your hobby.

Demand for the service must be local in the case of equipment repair. That demand for repair is quite often depleted by the owners own abilities and dedication. Very few contributors to this forum seek others to make repair, and we are the ones that have that equipment. The vast amount of equipment that has already been scrapped, or hidden in the fence line weeds, also limits options. If you fix it from a fence row, they will not come. Find a Antique tractor club to join (they will be ecstatic that you did!!) Take the advice of this forum, join us in doing work on old iron, do not depend on It for income, only a diversion from a profession. Jim (I am a retired university Professor Emeritus. with 57 years of vocational advising.)

 

[JOCCO]

I think Tony touched on it also look at specialized trades like diesel injector pump repair, air conditioning repair. There is less competition compared to say lawn mowing.

 

[Vito]

So I guess I didn’t really explain my situation real well. I’m training to get into the fire service right now and will be in that within a couple months. Until then I’m still going to be working full time till I transition over to fire department stuff which is 24 on 48 off so it would give me free time on the days off so I’m not looking for full time job stuff more or less just a side gig that I could have fun with and not lose money on. I don’t even care if I made hardly any at all on it

Good career path. I don't think the old iron business/hobby is a bad idea now knowing the rest of the story .

Vito

 

[Janicholson]

So I guess I didn’t really explain my situation real well. I’m training to get into the fire service right now and will be in that within a couple months. Until then I’m still going to be working full time till I transition over to fire department stuff which is 24 on 48 off so it would give me free time on the days off so I’m not looking for full time job stuff more or less just a side gig that I could have fun with and not lose money on. I don’t even care if I made hardly any at all on it

Things to consider:
You indicated no shop (needed)
You have limited room (needed)
You have (likely) residential neighbors that might take offense
Transporting farm equipment is mandatory to make it work
Do you have even a floor crane or fork truck for loading and unloading heavy tillage components?
My dad was a fireman (volunteer) for 50 years. I salute your intent. JIm

 

[G1000VISTA]

All good advise. If your set on it, go for it!! Just go wisely. I went home in 2023 and started a repair/welding shop working on farm equipment. It was touch and go till spring of this year. Now I have 3 weeks of work ahead of me and more coming in. I don't work on the newer stuff. Fendt and all the electronic style tractors. I grew up on the old stuff that's here on YT and that's what I fix. Just did a MM G1000, Doing a ford7700 and a jd4020 at the moment. If you have mechanical abilities and do good work for a fair price you should be good. There are a dozen tractor repair shops within 20 miles of me that have been established longer and we're all busy. Several shops are 4 months out. Good luck!!