"Carpet Farming" can be severly hazardious to farm toys. Kids are hard on things, and repairs are often necessary. How many times have you found that your child, (or younger sibling) has broken a tractor, or it got left out "in the field" and got stepped on? Well, here are some down and dirty quick fixes to get your machines back in service!
Busted Spindles
A hay rack with three wheels, or a front wheel missing off of a tractor is no good. Often you can fix it quick with a drill, small drill bit, plyers, and a small brad or nail. If you can, simply drill a hole slightly larger than the nail diameter you are going to use. Carefully drill at the center of where the existing spindle used to be. The material should drill easily.
After drilling, insert the nail though the wheel. Insert through the drilled hole, and using plyers, bend the nail sideways so it can not come out. Cut the excess off so it won't drag on the carpet, or poke your hand later!
Alternately, you can drill part way through if the casting is deep, cut the brad to length, and stick in place with JB weld or Super Glue.
This fix doesn't just apply to wheels. The mower below was repaired the same way.
Repairs with Hot Glue
This was my son's idea - break out the hot glue gun. Do you have a tractor where the spindles are not broke, but the wheels are so wore that they just fall off? Reinstall them, and apply a dab of hot glue on the tip of the spindle. Make sure you don't get any on the wheel!
Easy Duals with hot glue - we robbed some wheels off of some collect -n- play tractors, and after applying hot glue to the back side of the tire, quickly applied them to another wheel on an existing tractor. An easy way to quickly add duals - it made the not so popular tractors in the collection quite popular!
Remember, the wheels are easily removeable, so keep away from small children!
Semi Front Axles
These semi tractors below were all out of service for the same reason - broken front wheels. Well, here is a source for replacement axles:
http://www.toytrucking.com/products/parts-and-accessories/miscellaneous.html
Save Your Parts
When you do have a tractor or implement that is beyond repair, strip off any usable parts to use later, espically the wheels. You can often find a use for them later for another project!
Just remember, toy repairs can create a small parts hazard. Use these ideas at your discretion. Toy repairs such as these are not suitable for toys for children under the age of 3.
