Cool rig, what’s the story

Ash Grove’s Staceys restore toasted tractor to pretty powerhouse
Ash Grove area farmer Cody Stacey was looking for parts, but what he found instead was much more special, though it didn't look it at first. The eventual trash-turned-treasure was a 1977 4430 John Deere tractor. Stacey found the machine in rough condition. It had endured a barn fire in which everything around it burned, including the tractor itself. Stacey saw its condition and was interested in buying it for scrap parts, not yet thinking about repairing it, just not wanting it to go to waste.
"It was a black, black, black hunk of crap; it was nothing but just burnt up," said Stacey. "Of course the cab was burned up on it, and that makes it look a hundred times worse."
Stacey's position would eventually change, though, as he was told by some around him that it would be nearly impossible to repair a tractor in this condition. He took it as a challenge to his mechanical handiwork. Wanting to show off just how well his skills could translate, Stacey began to undertake the project; little did he know this would be the beginning of a long journey.
"I really wanted to show it could be done," said Stacey.
Stacey got to work, looking inside to find many of the parts still intact. Though many of the pieces comprised of softer metals were melted and needed to be replaced, such as the aluminum turbo attached to the diesel engine. The wiring was also in rough shape, but he said that many of the mechanical parts, the ones made out of harder-to-melt metal, remained mostly usable. What did need to be completely replaced, though, was the cab, which had completely burned off, though a suitable replacement was found in Tennessee. What also needed to be done was the location of a new motor for the tractor, which Stacey remedied by transplanting the engine from a recently purchased combine. Stacey said that, though it may have taken a while, it wasn't a particularly difficult undertaking when all was said and done.
"It wasn't bad; they're pretty straightforward," said Stacey. "I've had two of them since 1998, so I'm very familiar with the 30 series."
At the end of a yearlong endeavor, the tractor looked pristine, sporting bright green John Deere paint and a new decal bearing its name: Crispy. Crispy had never looked better, but Stacey couldn't take all of the credit; he had help, particularly from his middle son, Chase Stacey. This was one of the best parts of the experience, said Cody Stacey, being able to share this experience with his family.
"I told [Chase] that whenever he wants to farm, I told him I would give him Crispy," said Cody Stacey.
After Crispy—which has been in service for three years now—was fully refurbished, Stacey decided that he would try his luck again, this time picking up a similar tractor that was also in poor condition, which would come to be named Crusty. To this point, the Staceys have rebuilt many such tractors. They bring these tractors, including Crispy, to shows and parades, such as the Sparks in the Park in Ash Grove.
Crispy isn’t just for looks, the 48-year-old workhorse is used around the family farm for field use, like any other tractor, just with a better story.