Indholdsfortegnelse for September 2023 i Tractor & Farming Heritage

Welcome to the September issue of Tractor & Farming Heritage. There are plenty of events in this issue of TFH. And it is a good sign that things are coming back somewhere near to ‘normal’ after Covid threw an almighty spanner in the works a couple of years ago. Mind you, a few events have gone by the wayside and will be sorely missed, such as the GDSF. However, it’s pleasing to see the healthy turnouts at shows and rallies now, and I’m pleased to report about them. After all, the point of having a heritage machine, be it a tractor, classic car, Land Rover, combine or anything on those lines, is to have the opportunity to show it off. If not that, the chance to catch up with like-minded…

The Newark Vintage Tractor and Heritage Show celebrates its 20th anniversary this year with many traditional attractions and some new ones, including a new vintage plant class featuring diggers, bulldozers and more. Taking place from November 4-5, the Newark Vintage Tractor and Heritage Show has already opened competition entries, which close on September 13. The organisers are particularly targeting exhibitors who came to the first Newark Vintage and Heritage Show 20 years ago. “It is an opportunity to gather, reminisce about previous shows and celebrate the show’s success over the years,” says events and development manager Elizabeth Halsall. The event is also celebrating the centenary of the row crop tractor, including the iconic Farmall model, introduced in 1923 as the all-purpose tractor aimed at revolutionising farming. This year, the Marshall…

Since we looked through a few of my snaps of Fordson Standards in recent issues, I thought I might try to do the same thing with E27Ns and more up-to-date models. However, the enormity of the task soon had me beaten because of the thousands I have taken in 50 or more years. So, I decided to sift out some of the more unusual ones, and here you see the result. I can’t tell you much about many of them, so, if you can tell us more, I’d be delighted. It would be good to hear from owners, though I suppose that is a long shot out of the tens of thousands of Fordsons and Fords out there. They certainly had long lives, with a Fordson N still ploughing with…

The organiser of the Pink Ladies Tractor Road Run, Annie Chapman, has announced that her now famous Pink Ladies have achieved their goal of raising £104,000 this year to bring the grand total of the run to one million pounds. But as you would expect from the ladies after 20 years of fundraising, this is not the end. Annie said: “Thanks to the incredible generosity of those who have supported the run this year, money continues to come in. Although beyond my wildest dreams a few weeks ago, it looks as though we will go well beyond £104,000. “I will not know the final total until the beginning of September but, for now, we all have cause to celebrate! This cannot be the end of the journey. It is a…

Thursford Collection Gala on Sunday, July 2, where the Burrell showman’s engine, no 3827 Victory, was back in steam since the late Seventies, brought an enormous crowd to this famous site at Fakenham, Norfolk. The East Anglia NT&EC had a hugely popular stand at the gala. For me, the standout tractor was this ex-military 1943 Fordson Standard N Industrial Land Utility of N Ayres. It looked so original in various ways and featured the correct inner rear wings, which were a joy to see.…

The invention of the horse-drawn hayrake (sometimes called a buckrake) in the 1800s made collecting hay much more efficient. It could collect eight times as much as one farmhand with a rake, an eight-fold increase in output, and, importantly, meant less effort. Essential kit Yet another name for the hay rake was the ‘dump rake’, referring to its function of gathering the cuttings and dumping them in rows to dry off. It was first fashioned out of wood and metal with a distinctive wide body (approx. 10 to 12ft across), two very large diameter wheels and a fear-some-looking set of curved steel tines. These implements became indispensable, and no matter who produced them were designed with few moving parts, all of them easy to maintain. They were lightly constructed…

David Brown was still a relatively young tractor manufacturer by 1953, having produced its very first tractor in 1939 for Harry Ferguson in the shape of the Ferguson Type A. This only lasted for three years as Ferguson took his ideas to the US and Henry Ford. So, David Brown soon designed and produced their own machine, resulting in the VAK1 model first introduced in 1939. Tractor beginnings The shortages that came with the Second World War rather stymied the success of this first tractor, and it was soon altered to make it easier to produce and remained in production until 1945, by which time it had also spawned a crawler version. The replacement, the VAK1A, was very similar but featured a longer wheelbase, modified front axle and an improved…

JUST £3.68 PER ISSUE REASONS TO SUBSCRIBE • Never miss an issue • Delivered direct to your door • Save 49% on the shop price • Just £3.68 an issue OFFER 1 UK PRINT EDITION DIRECT DEBIT OFFER HERITAGE YOUR TRACTORS WORKSHOP AVILABLE ON YOUR FAVOURITE DEVICE OFFER 2 DIGITAL EDITION Simply visit OUR SECURE STORE SHOP.KELSEY.CO.UK/TFH SINGLE ISSUE ONLY £3.99 PAY JUST £34.99 F0R 13 ISSUES EASY WAYS TO SUBSCRIBE SIMPLY VISIT OUR SECURE STORE SHOP.KELSEY.CO.UK/TFHAD OR CALL 01959 543 747 QUOTE OFFER CODE: TFHAD LINES OPEN MON-FRI 8.30AM-5.30PM. CALLS CHARGED AT YOUR STANDARD NETWORK RATE Terms & conditions: Offer available to new UK direct debit subscribers only. Savings are calculated on the cover price £4.60 plus postage. Your subscription will start with the next available issue. You are free to…

Ben Hughes will be no stranger to collectors of pre-Second World War tractors and is a regular exhibitor on the vintage vehicle show circuit. “It all started when I was very young,” he explained. “My father took me to a vintage rally, and I have been hooked ever since.” Learning curve Ben learned a lot of his restoration skills, tinkering around with an old Fordson Major. His collecting went into overdrive a few years ago, when he realised he could import vintage tractors from America. “A fellow enthusiast imported a 1940 Case V-Series for me,” he says. “I then acquired a Massey-Harris 22, and several Farmall ‘Letter’ models. I like the simplicity of the pre-war tractors, especially Case.” Background The Model L in 1929 marked the beginning of a new…

This year marks the 26th Anniversary of Tracks Across the Field organised by the Wessex Tractor and Implement Club. Planning is well underway for the event, which is a working weekend for vintage and classic agricultural and horticultural machinery. There is also a mix of stationary and field working machinery, usually ranging from field cultivation to timber preparation, or anything that is pushed, pulled, or driven by tractors, stationary engines, or horses. The regular conclusion of this event is the annual Sunday Crawl Past, with as many tractors and crawlers and horses working together up the field as possible. It is a tradition going back to the first event in 1997 and marks the end of the weekend. This is always an excellent event to attend, either as an exhibitor…

ORGANISER TOOL BOXES New from Laser Tools are these stylish and robust organiser toolboxes, ideal for carrying hand tools, cordless power tools, drill bits, sockets, and consumables. The 380mm-wide example (ref 8651) features a fold-down tool organiser that holds drill bits and screwdrivers, plus a slide-out removable tray for keeping smaller tools, screws, nuts and bolts. The larger 500mm box (ref 8652 - pictured) features a slide-out organiser suitable for drill bits, hex keys, etc, plus the removable tray for keeping your smaller tools, screws, nuts and bolts, etc. Both boxes are manufactured from impact-resistant polypropylene and feature non-slip rubber feet. The overall dimensions of the 8651 are 380 x 270 x 220mm and the 8652, 500 x 290 x 240mm. The lids include a padlock hole for extra security.…

Billed as the biggest tractor event in the north, there were approaching 2000 exhibits to inspect. These included cars, lorries and motorbikes, stationary engines, and other working machinery, with many club stands in attendance. There is also the opportunity to take a tour of the hall itself, or just wander around the beautiful gardens and the famous miniature railway. Ford and Fordson But the tractors on show were the chief attraction. The Ford blue and grey were well represented with over 100 tractors on the Ford and Fordson Association stand. Kevin Cawood’s 1939 Standard N looked to be in fine shape. He rescued the tractor, which was to be scrapped and restored it over 18 months. In original-looking condition was a 1940 Fordson Standard N carrying an Auto Mower Engineering…

Cheffins, which conducts the largest monthly sale of tractors and agricultural machinery in Europe, has announced its results for the last financial year (June 2022 to June 2023). The firm has sold over £62 million worth of machinery through monthly collective auctions, on-site sales and regular vintage sales. Cheffins have offered for sale over 49,000 lots of machinery and associated items, with results of £10 million up on the previous financial year, which grossed £52 million by comparison. Sales were conducted to over 35 countries worldwide, with regular exports throughout the EU, the US, Australia, and North Africa. Some £34m worth of sales were conducted through the Cheffins Cambridge Machinery Sales hosted at Sutton, near Ely. The Cheffins world-renowned vintage sales hosted both at the Cheffins sale ground and on-site…

Each year, on the last Saturday in June, the Friends of Ferguson Heritage in Northern Ireland organise a working day for Ferguson tractors and implements in the magical setting of the Ulster Folk Museum near Belfast. Recreation Since its beginning 60 years ago, buildings dismantled from all corners of the province have been painstakingly rebuilt in this 170-acre site. They recreate a typical village and its surrounding farmyards and fields as it would have been over a century ago. Working horses and traditional breeds of livestock grazing in the small fields alongside the narrow lanes adds life to the past. It may be just a short walk from the busy A2 dual carriageway and not far from the airport, but the trees block out the noise of modern life on…

John Halsall has owned his Ford-Ferguson tractor for over 30 years. It was nostalgia that drove John to buy this tractor because his grandfather James Garnett had bought an identical tractor during the Second World War. Impressed The Ford-Ferguson 9N which James Garnett owned had been imported into the UK as part of the government’s Lend-Lease Act. John says: “Apparently my uncle had seen a Ford-Ferguson working, and he had been so impressed he made enquiries to see if he could buy a similar tractor.” John’s grandfather and uncle wrote to both the Lancashire War Agricultural Committee and the Ford Motor Company, expressing their desire to buy one of these tractors. John still has the original replies that the family received in 1943. The letter writing paid off and in…