Painter completes hundreds of antique tractors

POTOMAC, Ill. — John Bruns has made a lot of friends painting tractors over the past 40 years.

“I grew up on a farm and I tried farming, but it was by myself and I work better around people,” said Bruns, who owns Bruns Paint Shop. “I worked in dealerships and one day the boss said he needed a tractor touched up, so I grabbed the paint gun and it turned out OK.”

When Bruns went to farms for service calls, he would see a tractor in the corner of a barn and ask the farmer if he would like it painted.

“I would paint the tractor in the corner of the shed and take the hoods and fenders home to paint in my garage,” he said. “I did that for about eight years.”

Bruns then started lining up tractors to paint at his home workshop.

“They just came to me and now I’m working on my 412th tractor and still going,” he said. “I’m going to continue as long as I can still do it.”

The painter has restored four-wheel tractors in the past, but has decided to focus on smaller tractors now.

“I’m 73 years old, so I’m not good on a ladder anymore,” he said. “But I can stand on the floor for smaller tractors.”

Each year, Bruns has a display at the Historic Farm Days and he also will be at the 2023 Half Century of Progress Show at the Rantoul National Aviation Center.

“I’ve lined up three tractors today,” Bruns said from his booth at the show in Penfield.

“I get to see a lot of people at the show that I haven’t seen for a year and you meet new friends,” he said. “I’ve painted a couple of tractors in Kentucky and I have another one to do there and I’m working on two tractors from Georgia.”

Bruns has painted a wide variety of tractors.

“I paint any brand — you name it, I’ve painted it,” he said. “I like making the tractors look nice, but they don’t have to look showroom perfect.”

At one time, Bruns painted about 19 tractors a year.

“Now I do eight or nine each year,” he said. “And I’ve had my family right beside me. My son, daughter, son-in-law, grandsons and granddaughter have all helped.”

In addition to tractors, Bruns has utilized his painting skills on a number of other items.

“I’ve painted everything from toilet stools to refrigerators, pickups, end loaders, sheds and chairs,” he said. “I have another 132 tickets for those jobs.”

A lot of the skill for painting, Bruns said, is knowing when to back away.

“You don’t want to put too much paint on,” he said. “Some guys want to paint the tractor and I just do the hoods and fenders, which is fine with me. I don’t have to do the whole tractor.”

Bruns has also has collected a few tractors over the years.

“I have a 39 International H, 50 John Deere, SC Case, 77 Oliver, David Brown 885, 340 International with a loader and a 65 Massey Ferguson with a loader,” he said. “I also have numerous lawn mowers.”

For his projects, Bruns uses Van Sickle paint.

“They have 400 different colors of paint, including a lot of the older colors for Minneapolis, Oliver and Cockshutt,” he said.

The painter is also a dealer for Van Sickle paint, which happened in an interesting way.

“I called the company and asked where the nearest dealer was located and I was told, “By jolly, John, it’s you,’” Bruns said. “I was made a dealer over the phone, they sent me the paperwork and we’ve got along ever since.”

In addition to painting, Bruns does tune-ups on the tractors and some work on magnetos.

“My friend, Keith Payne, helps me. He’s an excellent mechanic,” he said.