TIRED MAN - Dick Smith of Genoa collects and sells antique tractor tires - a one-of-a-kind hobby that turned into a business. The tires are used on fertilizer rigs and on antique tractors used in tractor pulls.

Telegram photo by Donna Edwards
By DONNA EDWARDS
Genoa Correspondent

GENOA - Dick Smith of rural Genoa admits his business is one of a kind.

"In all the traveling through the years that I've done, I've never found anyone else who does this," said Smith, who became involved in collecting and restoring antique tractors while he farmed.

Neighbors and people he met at antique tractor shows often inquired, and sometimes wanted to purchase, the tires. While at first Smith bought them for a hobby, he soon began selling the tires for a profit.

"I actually got into the business by accident," Smith said.

Semiretired from farming for seven years, Smith has an excess of 250 old tires, some of which are 60 years old.

Smith takes searching for these tires more seriously now than when it was just a hobby. A spotter lets Smith know information on tires that will be for sale, and other people help to scout out prospective buys. Smith also travels to places in South Dakota, Kansas and the Nebraska Panhandle to look at auctions and different sales.

Every year various businesses from South Dakota and Nebraska buy a dozen or more old tires to resell to their customers.

"These people generally sell to the farmers who use them on fertilizer rigs," Smith said. "The fertilizer rigs are on the road a lot, which tears down the tires, so (the farmers) prefer to use old tires. It is also claimed that the old tires wear better on the blacktop than do the new tires."

Another use for the tires is for tractors that are used in antique tractor pulling contests. People participating in these contests want a certain size for the width of the tire so that they can have all the width on the ground necessary for doing well.

"They say they don't want a long lug, but a lug that is half worn down," Smith said. "They say they get better pulling power that way since the tracks used are either hard surfaces or very hard ground."

Repairing and restoring the tires takes up some of Smith's time. If a tire is "weather checked," or veined with little cracks on the outside, he uses a silicone rubber to cover the cracks, then paints over that with a rubber paint.

If there is a hole in tire, inside or out, he places a "boot" or patch over the hole to prevent the innertube from wearing. He also checks the tire's innertube if it has one.

Even though antique tires have now become a business for Smith, it still seems to be a hobby for him.

"I like getting about the countryside and like talking to those I meet around those areas," Smith said. "I like the work - these tires keep me busy - and it's interesting to make something look better than it was."

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