Lynx showcased an award-winning Deere 6800 restoration at the Royal Highland

An interesting project on a near 30-year old John Deere 6800, it was fully restored by Lynx Engineering and equipped with the latest add-on technology – it made its Scotland debut on the Lynx Engineering trade stand at the Royal Highland Show.

Having received rave reviews from visitors to LAMMA at the NEC, Birmingham, in January, the tractor has since made an award-winning appearance at the classic tractor show, Tractor World, where it won the Best Restored Tractor award in the 1976-2000 class, beating almost one hundred concourse tractors in the category.

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That accolade provided recognition of the time, effort and skill invested by the Lynx project team of Greg Allen, Mark Purves and Sam Ewbank in restoring a modern classic to the most exacting of standards.

The project was undertaken to mark the company’s 30th anniversary and to demonstrate how an old, tired and well used tractor could be restored and re-equipped with new components to give it a new lease of life to take on the demands of modern farming.

Lynx Engineering’s choice of a JD for the project was an easy one to make, it said. The 6000 Series was a completely new range of tractors when it was launched to wide acclaim at Smithfield in 1994.

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Lynx were ahead of the game having taken all the key measurements for a front linkage and pto kit to fit the tractor. By the time UK dealers took delivery of their first consignment, Lynx had a Zuidberg front linkage and pto kit available and ready to go.

When the tractor arrived on site, it looked in reasonable condition for its age and many hours in the field. However, stripping it down to the chassis revealed underlying problems that had to be addressed.

Amongst many others, these included an engine that only ran on five cylinders, a turbo requiring a full rebuild and a gearbox that was virtually completely replaced with new parts.

Work was also needed on front and rear axles and there was much more cleaning, blasting and painting than originally planned for.

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Restoration was finally completed in December, with the tractor fitted with the latest Stoll Next Generation ProfiLine FZ43-27 front loader, painted appropriately in the Stoll colours that would have been applied back in 1994, and equipped with the latest Pro Control electronic joystick.

The original Zuidberg front linkage could not be saved, so a new up-to-date system was specified with the addition of a front pto, the linkage also being employed to carry the Zuidberg front override protector.

The original Dromone rear pick-up hitch was sent back to Dromone for a complete overhaul. Lynx also replaced the original viscous fan with a brand new Flexxaire reversing cooling/cleaning fan.

Other products featured on the Lynx stand at the Royal Highland Show included the latest Stoll ProfiLine front loader, Zuidberg front linkages and PTOs, Dromone pick-up hitches and coupling systems, a range of front-mounting weight units and the company’s own Streamline branded front press.