I say this a lot, but this is another unusual one! Some stealthy Barn Finds reader sent in this tip and didn’t leave their name, thanks! This strange feature is a 1962 David Bradley Play-Trac, which is basically a child’s tractor. It’s listed on eBay with a current price of – are you sitting down? – $3,000 and the reserve isn’t met! It’s located in McDonald, Tennessee. Let’s check it out.
This almost looks like a pedal tractor that someone put an engine on, but it’s a regular factory piece and they were made for Sears Roebuck, & Co. These tractors are rare, and I mean rare. You can tell just how rare they are by the price. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if the seller’s reserve is $5,000 or more for this Play-Trac. Restored examples can top $10,000 if you can find one. David Bradley tractors, in general, are just about the king of the hill.
There are reportedly only about 10 of these in the US right now, believe it or not. They originally sold for just under $100, which would be $833 today. That isn’t a heck of a lot when you consider the amount of money that parents spend on video gaming systems for their kids so they can sit in their room all day and night with the door and the shades closed not getting any fresh air what so ever. Give me a 2-1/4 hp Tecumseh gas-powered kid’s tractor any day of the week!
The seller’s “Grandmother has kept this in her house as a memento for the past 46 years. It has never been stored outdoors. Her and my Grandfather purchased it brand-new and have been the only owners. It is in great condition. Needs to be dusted and cleaned. The paint is in good condition, just a little chipping on the edges.” They were made for the 1962 and 1963 model years, originally with a 2-hp Briggs and Stratton and in the fall of ’62 and for the 1963 model year they came with a 2-1/4 hp Tecumseh. There was no throttle, speed was governed at 3 mph, so grab a seat and hang on for dear life!.. (cough) The seat was 8-way adjustable, 4 up and down and 4 forward and back. Dang these are cool!
There are a wicked huge number of small tractor collectors and restorers out there. These little things are fun to restore and fun to own and show. Are any of you into these small gas-powered vehicles? Have you heard of a Play-Trac? If so, consider yourself one of the 1%’ers!
Truthfuly isn’t everything on here a high priced toy? Imho
Amen
In 1962 my grandmother bought me a toy pedal JD tractor and a pedal 57 Chevy. I recall them fondly. Didn’t appreciate the fine quality metal construction in those days, but I sure do now (Man, I miss American made quality). In 1972 my folks sold our house and left them both in the basement for the next owners, I don’t recall my reaction to that, by then I was long over them, looking forward to driving a real car or tractor. I wonder what ever happened to them? I hope some other little kids got to play with them, I don’t remember who bought the house, if they had appropriate kids or not, they might have been sent to the dump, who knows? They would sure look good around here now, though. 25 years ago we went to the local JD dealer and bought our son a pedal tractor, all metal and rubber, no plastic. That sits in the rafters of my garage, perfect condition, wonder if that will ever be worth anything?
Fabricate a mowing deck and put the kid to work. And no cup holder for a 64 ounce Slurpee – woo hoo!
What would parents today think of this when their child is straddling a lawn mower engine and having exhaust blowin’ in their face. Back then it was called fun.
Yep, and rode bikes without a helmet, lit off firecrackers, played with toys guns, (cowboys and indians, take THAT political correctness!)”smoked” candy cigarettes. How did we all survive? Where was the Purell to clean our hands after we picked up bugs and worms? Where was the approved underlayment on the play grounds in case we fell? Most of all, where were the nosey busy bodies who report your parents and have them arrested when you got a well deserved spanking? Funny, I recall a much better run and safer country in general back then. Didn’t hear about all the craziness that we have now.
My dad, a mechanical engineer, built his own lawn tractor using Popular Mechanics plans. We went to the scrap yard and got the trans from a 51 Ford. The engine was an ancient (30’s) B & S from a giant walk behind reel mower. When built, the revolving U joint was next to the frame, with a space between exactly the width of a leg. Guess who found that out? I lived to tell about it and can still walk. Subsequent modifications included crude safety guards.
Heck, Billy 007, I remember playing “King of the Hill” 50 years ago – basically a mad scramble to see who could stay on top of a dirt mound the longest. Everything to ward off the attacking “enemy” was ok, including throwing dirt lumps and rocks lol. Can you imagine the uproar today if kids were throwing rocks at school? The snowflakes would have a protest march and be calling for the principal’s head!
Hey Rod444, if someone today saw kids playing that they would be aghast and send them to sensitivity training and a seminar on bullying.
when we were kids’ 14yrs. I felt; B&S were all torque (mopar). While tecumseh was a high rever (sbc) . ended up a mopar man. ride a shovelhead. torque dork!
A friend of mine had one when we were kids. I was a little older (and bigger) but I used to ride it quite a bit anyway! :) I’ll tell you that 3 mph probably seemed very slow when you’re really article but when you were a kid sitting on that seat it seemed like you were flying! It had to be awful careful when you took a corner because they had a tendency to tip over if you turned to quickly.
As Mike said parents today, (especially those who never got to experience country life as a child) would be mortified to let their kid ride one of these. Of course Consumer Protection Agencies and other government agencies would never even let something like this be sold!
Some people just have TOO much money
Beautiful item…best of luck to the seller and new caretaker.
I’m trying to figure out the target age group for this – 7 to 10 years, maybe? By 1962, I was still a “kid” but had already driven my buddy’s Crosley and something like this would have been boring. A go-cart would have been a heck of a lot more fun and you could have bought one for less money!
5-8 judging by the relationship of the seat to the pedals and steering wheel. Bicycle sizing dimensions are a good reference.
Doesn’t say if it runs It should self start for 3K ))
Pre litigatory America . The Good one!
Wow! My parents acquired me an old JD pedal tractor which was good enough for me.
Did I miss info in this listing about the tractor actually running?
I didn’t have a tractor but I had a “Fire Chief” peddle car. Don’t remember putting many fires out but I carried a book of matches just in case. Just like that John Orr fellow. j/k
Dave, I got a Murray Fire Chief pedal car for Christmas 1957, but no matches… ;-)
I thought my brother’s earlier model Murray pedal car was much cooler, as it looked like a postwar Olds.
The tractor looks like a cool toy. By the time it was at the local Sears, I had already graduated to go-karts, so it wouldn’t have been on my radar of must-haves.
My older brother and I had pedal cars when we were small but around junior high about 1956 we found plans to build a go-cart in Popular Mechanics magazine. We went to metal recycle place and got old inch water pipe and cut the required parts. We had a local welder who welded them together in his spare time. He made suggestions how to make spindle and constructed them. He told us to go to an auto junk yard and get mechanical brake rods from an old car and he made the steering rods. We bought a 2 1/2 hp chainsaw and used the engine for the power. It had a rollbar and a seat belt for safety. I had it until my son was about 5 but traded it for a mini bike cycle for his. Wish I still had it today.
Remember, when kids played on these they were wearing shorts and t-shirts. No helmets, knee pads and elbow pads!
When I was a kid my dad built for my brother and I a small gas powered fire truck at the time I was to little to say machine which was what I was trying to get out, so I called it the chiner. And the name stuck it was the chiner. It had a kick start gas washing machine engine and would Transval a blistering 2/3 miles an hour. You’d get it rolling by pulling on a handle that engaged an idler pulley onto a fan belt. I remember my older brother got to drive most of the time, sometimes it sucks to be the younger brother. After a while my dad sold it to some older kids at the end of the street and they destroyed it in a matter of weeks
When I was 5 years old, my Great Uncle took me to the local John Deere tractor dealership in town. There, in the middle of the showroom, was the object of my dreams, a John Deere pedal tractor. These things came with all sorts of attachments that could be hooked up to the rear.
He asked me how I liked it as I sat on it dreaming of running arrow straight furrows. My smile said it all. He told me to drive it and the wagon attachment to the car. My eyes damned near burst from my head! He had gone in the day before and bought it for me and had them polish it and set it in the middle of the dealership!
I farmed my way across Marine Corps air bases all over the country (my Dad was a pilot).
Wish I still had it….but I have cherished memories.
I was a city kid who only got to visit my uncle’s farms and man, I WANTED that JD pedal tractor SO bad lol. If I found one now I’d snap it up “for the grandkids” and hope the wife didn’t catch 230 lb. me trying to ride it for old time’s sake.
Not surprised at the pricing… usually everyone in the Chattanooga area thinks they are selling gold-plated gold and place their cars, trucks, etc,. at rather inflated values.
I like the way Coventrycat thinks. I think video game hobbies instead of car hobbies that parents and kids can do together is sad. Happy Fathers Day to all yall Dads. I really enjoy this site a bunch, and the comments are awesome!!!
My fondest memory was not a tractor, but a go kart based 57 Chrysler at the local dealership. It was next to the Texaco gas station where my dad bought his gas. I would sit in the car and daydream of the fun I would have if I owned that machine. It sat majestically just out of reach on the showroom room floor next to a real car. Oh how I could visualize my self driving up and down our 1/4 mile country driveway. But alas! My dad was way to pragmatic to waste money on such foolishness as toy cars for his kids. He said He’d have to buy the real car to get the go kart car, and he couldn’t afford such an extravagance. Somehow I survived with getting clothes for birthdays and Christmas, oh but how I would have loved that go kart.
Reminds me of one my grand dad had when i was a kid. It was a “Mustang Mowett” riding mower. IIRC it had one speed, around 5hp, no adjustable deck, and no brakes (!) i never asked to use it, as i put plenty of miles on a couple of Snapper rear engine riding mowers and Farmall Cub with a 48″ woods belly mower for my folks. (I have a ’73 Cub Cadet 128 with a mower and tiller, Farmall Super A with a Woods 60″ mower as well a modern Hustler ZTR now.) He took it with him from Texas back to Ms. when he retired. He passed away and when we moved my grandmother back to Texas we left it behind. One of my older cousins bought the house. It might still be in the shed!
By age 10 I was driving the real thing with a mower deck, disc harrow, or hay rake behind it. This would have bored me stupid. Of course today they would probably arrest my father for even letting me sit on a real tractor at that age! We’ve come a long way baby Lol.
And surprise! Your still here! What did we know then that has been forgotten now?
My father in-laws’ quote” Farming the only place 7 year olds and 70 year olds do the same job” He meant driving a tractor.
We used to run the hell out of an international cub ( I think I got that right) one of us would ride the front and put our boot heel in the govener and fly across fields, we broke it in half hitting a ditch, caught hell for it, amazing we did not kill ourselves.
There was a gas engine powered tractor??? Crap! Why did I get stuck with the red Farmall pedal tractor??? Mom? Dad?
In 1963 my mama couldn’t afford an $800 car let alone a $800 toy. Pa was already dead. She had an ole chevy that I could see the railway throu the floorboards when we crossed the tracks.
Billy007 ,I lived then. How did we live to say it today,and how do the new gen. kids do it. They can never compare real playing with a computer game!!
I played king of the hill,dont know how i ever got hurt bad. We used to jump off our 2 story house roof and land in a bush for fun lol. Or slide down the branches of a 50 foot cedar tree for fun.
A fun game was to stand along a fairly busy street and wait for the next car to come and that was yours. I got a Shelby cobra once. and then it was a real one, heard it coming a mile a way. boy i lived a fun childhood.
Have one of these babies sitting under a work bench in my driveway rescued it from a muddy backyard when I was back in 8th grade as payment for mowing the peoples yard. Motor spins free but gas tank is rusted out and carb is pretty rough only other issue is one of the rear wheels rusted off so I’ll probaly have to make it a new axle
I bought one of these pla tracs at an auction in about 1982.I paid $300 back then. Its still in my basement. Its in great shape but the rear wheels dont fave tractor tread on them.
I have 1 and had it painted John Deere green 40 years ago. Didn’t realize it was worth so much. Guess I’ll restore it the original blue. It had run when I put it in storage.