Indholdsfortegnelse for December 2022 i Tractor & Farming Heritage

Iecho the sentiments of Jo Roberts in the opening paragraph of her monthly feature this time (page 34). The objects themselves, in this case, tractors and implements, hold no feelings, but it is the thoughts and associations they trigger in us when we see them that makes them so special to us. This was brought home to me when I attended a local sale recently, which included some dispersal lots of someone I knew. These included crawlers, tractors, implements, tools and much more - as you would expect from an enthusiast involved all his life in agricultural matters. To see his tractor collection displayed in the auction line was indeed a fine sight. It brought back memories to me of the few times I saw him in action on them…

Yesterday’s Farming 2022 - it was great to be back, writes Steve Dunster! It was held with the kind permission of Dillington Farms near Ilminster, Somerset, over the weekend of August 20-21. This popular show was celebrating its 50th year, and with its long-held view that visitors like to see things working, it’s important to have vintage and classic machinery undertaking the tasks that would have been their day-to-day purpose. These demonstrations rekindle fond memories amongst the older generations and allow them to share their life experiences with the younger visitors. Tractors are a strong section, with over 250 attending from an early Twenties Fordson F to Eighties classics like the Case David Brown 1594 Hydra Shift. Well-supported stationary engines ranged from the ubiquitous Lister D to a 9hp Blackstone…

After a three-year absence, the return of this celebration of all things vintage was keenly anticipated by Northern Ireland’s heritage enthusiasts. Key event On the Friday morning, exhibits rolled through the gate for the various classes and enclosures at one of Northern Ireland’s key events. As it was for many visitors, a visit to the autojumble was high on our list and as soon as our Lister D had been unloaded in the stationary engine pen we headed across the field to the rows of stalls where tables spread with parts, tools and collectables beckoned. You can’t have too many files in your toolbox, too many oil cans on the shelf or too many books in the bookcase. Search through the boxes long enough and you’re sure to find something…

Anglesey’s Wil Hughes has a tractor, a plough, and a baler, all of which used to belong to old friends, and the machines themselves become like old friends in time. Wil’s baler was once owned by North Wales’ collector, the late John Bumby. John was a mine of information for he not only spent many years working as a lecturer at the local agricultural college but was also a former employee of Jones Balers. In 1950, John began working as an apprentice engineer for Jones Balers in Rhosesmor, North Wales. The company was producing its self-propelled baler, ‘The Invictor’, at the time. In 1952 Jones began producing their Mark 1 baler. Around this time John Bumby was not only building the balers but he was also going out testing the…

CATERPILLAR D4C AT HAYES FARM It was good to see one of Glasgow’s finest built tractors in action when 1960 Caterpillar D4C no. 24A609 took to the fields at Hayes Farm, Sharpthorne, Sussex on Saturday, September 3. The owner, Angus Southerland, gave it a rare outing at the South Eastern Vintage Agricultural Club’s working weekend just up the road from where the excellent East Grinstead ploughing match was taking place. On the back of the Cat, was a Ransomes TS46A plough. The tractor was for some years part of the Paul Badger collection in Northamptonshire. After it headed south, the cab was removed, and various jobs were done on the crawler and its panel work in particular. It certainly made a fine sight as it worked on that early autumnal…

Biddenden Tractorfest welcomed just over 14,000 visitors across the weekend in August. It was the first time the event had taken place since 2019, with the site last used in 2017. Although tractors remained a major attraction, Biddenden Tractorfest offered a fun day out for all the family, with entertainment and activities for all ages. And it’s not just visitors that flocked to the much-loved event! Over 250 tractors and a further 400+ classic cars, stationary engines, miniature and full-sized steam, horticultural machines and over 100 trade stalls took part, with displays, demonstrations and tractor and trailer rides. Running for the eighth year, Biddenden Tractorfest was originally set up by a group of local volunteers, before being taken on by a registered charity, the Kent County Agricultural Society (KCAS) in…

The Massey Ferguson 165 represented the top end of the small tractor range and shared many of the same features as the MF 135 and MF 150. Dennis Oakley from South Shropshire comes from a family of farmers and has been a fan of Massey Ferguson tractors for many years. Growing the business “My father moved here as a tenant farmer in 1953,” he recalls. “We then moved to a larger farm in the area when I was two years old, and I can still remember my mother and auntie shifting all our possessions in a horse and cart.” The family gradually expanded their farming activities until they owned several holdings. Dennis’s current property also includes a house that is centuries old. Legend “The black and white front of the…

The excitement of purchasing something new, whether at auction or personal contact, leads to the “fun” of getting it home. Fair saling Over the years, I have been involved with recovering many acquisitions. This story relates to one trip to pick up a Ford-Ferguson tractor purchased from the original Stourpaine Bushes Steam Rally (The Great Dorset Steam Fair now). In the early Seventies, I was using a 25cwt short wheelbase Ford Transit fitted with a timber tray as my daily drive to work at the Cowley works in Oxford. This was fitted with a Perkins 4.108 diesel, which found difficulty pushing the vehicle through the air and achieving a decent speed even when unladen. I met up with a friend who also had a purchase ready to be collected from…

Within The Society of Ploughman’s Brief History of the Plough, we learn that the very early scratch ploughs were drawn by oxen, camels, elephants and even women folk on occasion. Line in the sand Although barely breaking the crust, the soil was disturbed sufficiently to allow different crops to germinate and thrive in otherwise inhospitable areas. These primitive ploughs simply pushed the soil to either side while creating a shallow groove for seeds to fall into. Together with the adoption of early irrigation systems, this helped the desert to bloom. The Greeks and Chinese went further by adding wheels to the front of their ploughs, which gave the implement much better manoeuvrability. Materials used to construct early implements included oak for the share beam, elm for the draught beam and…

Well, that’s it, I can hunt about and get all my old tatie forks together, give them a clean-up and rub some linseed oil onto the wooden shafts and put them on eBay. Because now I have taken the Johnson hoover round to the tatie patch and put it to work, I won’t need them anymore. Top tips I tried to use all the tips that have come in from you readers over the last few months. The first tip was to get rid of some of the top growth on the rows that a lot of you said was a real problem with blocking up the first web where it passed under the drive cross shaft. To start with, the taties should have been lifted a month ago, but…

www.kelseymarketplace.co.uk JERRED D RUBLE The late Jerred D Ruble was well known in the antique tractor and steam engine hobby, a very likeable man. He was instrumental in the superb Heritage Park, Forrest City, Iowa, and the steam school there. He had the knowledge to gather the rare and hard-to-find, and his interests were wide and varied. The Aumann Auctions’ auction was full of early gas tractors, steam engines, gas engines, impressive scale models, a huge assortment of parts and a fantastic literature and memorabilia collection, which concluded on September 8 online. The prices were strong for the major lots in the sale, especially in the spares department. This was just part of the museum collection here at Forrest City, which is owned by various private individuals besides Jerred and…

LIGHT ON THE JOB As we enter the final few months of the year, it’s difficult to have enough daylight hours to get outside work finished on schedule. Machine Mart stocks a wide range of free-standing work lights and floodlights to help keep you in action over the winter months. Their lights are all portable and have an IP44, IP54 or IP65 rating, making them suitable for internal or external use. The lights are supplied on a strong, sturdy tripod or with a useful carry handle, meaning they can also be used for a variety of purposes. One useful example is the Clarke SMD84T featuring two work lights, each using 42 SMD LEDs to provide extremely bright light. Each light has its own on/off switch with an LED life expectancy…

PREVIEW Some important milestones will be celebrated at this year’s Newark Vintage Tractor & Heritage Show, which is shaping up to be one of the largest gatherings of vintage tractors, engines, machinery, commercial and military vehicles in the country. We have covered some of these milestones in previous issues of TFH, but here are some more significant machine anniversaries for you to look out for at the show. Fordson Major E1A at 70 The Fordson Major E1A was produced from 1952 to 1958 and will celebrate its 70th anniversary at the NVT&HS this November. Fordson fan Malcolm Booth plans to take six or seven Majors from the E1A range to the show, including a Fordson Major Mark II 1957-58, two Power Majors from 1959, three blue/orange Super Majors from 1962…

The Great Rempstone Steam & Country Show first took place in 1956 and donates funds to local charities. And again, proved to be as popular as ever, with around 10,000 people flocking to experience one of the largest steam events locally. There were around 100 working steam engines and miniature steam engines, all of which take part in parades in the main arena, along with over 400 tractors, vintage and classic vehicles, motorbikes, and American trucks. There were static displays of military vehicles, stationary engines, fairground organs and vintage equipment and vehicles. Working demonstrations of wood sawing, logging, and milling also provided an example of working practices that reflected the era. This year, the Kelder family from the Netherlands came with their fantastic pair of Fairground Organs ‘Victory’ & ‘Locomotion’.…

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Pre-war tractors were all the rage, perhaps because the Forties/Fifties ones were so common and easy to find at modest prices when I started saving them. I had a Fordson E27N (called High Mary in Somerset, where I lived by then) and a big Farmall Super BM bought for less than £50 and in good working order. Oak Tree Appliances More uncommon was an OTA three-wheeler bought from a Carlisle timber yard and spotted from the transporter carrying my Caledon lorry to a Scottish rally. Somehow, we managed to double stack them with the aid of an AEC Matador logging tractor. OTA stood for Oak Tree Appliances, a firm which developed a post-war tractor at Fillongley, Coventry in a village agricultural repair premises run by FJ Brookes, who had worked…

Lincolnshire had become famous for its sheep in the Middle Ages when the wool trade had become a vital part of Britain’s economy. So, it is no wonder that the Lincoln Longwool is one of our most important native breeds of sheep. By 1750, the Lincoln sheep was well established and earning an excellent reputation for wool production. Lincolnshire became an important wool-producing area and the Lincoln breed was used by Robert Bakewell in his Leicester breeding programme. The breed was also renowned as a mutton producer and was more popular than the new Leicester for meat production. The breed was soon in demand at home, and many were exported worldwide to countries such as South America, Australia, and New Zealand, where they were used for improving and developing new…

Fifty assembled tractors of various shapes and sizes departed Pantycaragle Farm, Beguildy in aid of the DPJ Foundation, the agricultural mental health charity, writes Anne Bates. Route leader, Mike Whittal, led the tractors out of the farmyard down the Teme Valley towards Dutlas. Here the tractors turned right up the Lawn valley and up through the Penllan farmyard and out across the fields onto the farm track out across Beacon Hill. Circumnavigating the open hill for 2½ miles before returning to the tarred road at Beacon Lodge and down to Llancoch, passing the onlooking farmers and the Heart of Wales railway tunnel at the highest point on the line at 980 feet above sea level. Now descending, passing Llangunllo station to Pye Corner, the tractors picked up the B4356 to…