History of This Old Tractor
This Old Tractor was founded when I (Gregory Bender) created the name for my brother's antique tractor restoration and repair business. Ted's core business now involves steel fabrication in Kansas, but the name remains. I first registered the domain name on and soon after began posting my personal content to the sub-folder: gtbender
.
Initially, I had no intention of anyone discovering my website, or of it becoming anything more than my personal journal of activities. That all changed after John Ulrich found my website after I had posted some photos of my first Moto Guzzi project: the 1971 Moto Guzzi Ambassador that remains my favorite.
People began asking me questions via e-mail. I would respond to the best of my ability, and then post the resulting information to my website. The more questions that I answered, the more questions I received, and the bigger my website became.
The best part about this journey is that my website has introduced me to many fantastic people from all over our planet.
During the past 23 years, I have learned a couple of key characteristics about myself:
- I have a passion for transforming broken and neglected machinery into something functional, purposeful, and beautiful.
- I enjoy sharing what I learn with people who want to do the same.
My sincere hope is that the content of my website continues to be a helpful resource for years to come.