A barn-find John Deere Gator, from a Yorkshire golf course to Chester Zoo

2007 John Deere Gator 855D - in the workshop at Tyne Valley

Not everything we take on has a number plate in the usual sense. This John Deere Gator 855D spent most of its life on a golf course in Yorkshire before being parked up as a barn find. We brought it back to life with new bull bars and fresh plastics, and it went on to a new home at a zoo in Chester.

A proper barn find

This Gator had done the hard yards on a golf course in Yorkshire before it was parked up and left. The owners got in touch to see if we would take it on, and we did what we always do, we went out and collected it rather than asking them to sort anything.

The state of it

It was rough. The original glass and the fairings were obliterated, which is no surprise for a machine that has spent years working outdoors and then sitting. Mechanically though there was a good utility vehicle in there, it just needed someone willing to put the work in.

The work it took

This was a proper project for us. We tracked down new bull bars and a set of new plastics to replace what was beyond saving, and worked through it until it was back up and running and presentable again. It is the sort of job a lot of people would walk away from, but a John Deere Gator is worth saving.

Off to a zoo in Chester

Once it was sorted it found an ideal new home, sold on to a zoo in Chester where a tough, go-anywhere utility vehicle is exactly the right tool. From a Yorkshire fairway to a barn to a zoo, not a bad life for one machine.

We take on the unusual, not just cars

Barn finds, project vehicles, utility machines and the genuinely unusual are all things we will look at. If you have something interesting sitting and gathering dust, tell us about it and we will see what we can do.