Innehållsförteckning för October 2020 från Tractor & Machinery

Hello and welcome to the October issue of Tractor & Machinery – one with plenty to keep Ford fans happy. There has been an influx of stories related to the blue oval recently and so this issue has become an unofficial Ford special! The first of these, our cover story, is an interesting one that will surprise a few of you. I was aware of County Commercial Cars’ connection with the Ford 8200, but I was unsure of some of the finer details… but I suppose I’d never given much thought to the engine’s state at the point the tractor reached Fleet. Forgive me if you’re a County expert but, in terms of my knowledge of the subject, this feature is a prime example of ‘every day is a school…

The current pandemic has meant that the David Brown Tractor Club (DBTC) has had to suspend all of its shows, meetings, auctions and open days. However, the committee hasn’t been idle and has used its spare time to renovate its museum at Meltham. The museum, which is just across the road from David Brown’s former Meltham Mills tractor factory, has been in need of refurbishment for some time. The committee took the opportunity to remove some of the exhibits so that the walls could be scraped and repainted. Several other jobs have also been attended to at the same time. “Our committee is a very happy bunch,” reports the DBTC’s secretary, Robert Walker, “and they are all pulling together to get the work done. Our website administrator and treasurer, Scott…

The two models featured here both marked a period of change for their respective manufacturers, although the IH 574 was more of a revolution when compared to the evolutionary Leyland 270. Starting from a blank sheet of paper is never easy, but International Harvester did a good job with the World Wide Series. The first models were produced in 1970 and met with critical acclaim – their car-like features and fresh styling winning over many and setting the standard for other manufacturers to follow. Leyland, on the other hand, was not quite as bold – choosing to retain many of the 384’s features when it launched the 270 in 1972. With hints of Nuffield underneath the blue paint, the new model would never set the world alight, but it had…

Limited edition lovelies Limited edition models continue to form a core part of Universal Hobbies’ 1:32 line-up, with four going on sale in October. Two of the four are featured here to illustrate both colour schemes – the New Holland T6.175 in Profondo Blue and the T5.140 in Gold – but each is available in both liveries. Just 600 of each are being produced to mark the 50th anniversary of New Holland HFT Japan Inc., which is sure to prove popular with serious collectors. RRP is €34. Following on from the Weeks trailers that we previewed in the August issue, Universal Hobbies has now decided to release them in Massey Ferguson guise. You can buy the MF 21 in standard form, with extension sides or silage guise for €31, €34…

In part one we concluded with details of the rare Kardell, that sold for £79,494, but the next tractor in our brief look at the highlights of Aumann Auctions’ Pre ’30 Auction 2020 did not fair quite so well. A Saunderson Universal G with two-cylinder petrol/paraffin engine, three-point suspension, worm steering and three-speed transmission was formerly part of the Hunday Collection, having originally been purchased by a Lincolnshire farmer. It sold for £42,676, after 68 bids. Another tractor that Aumann Auctions had sold before was the Galloway Farmobile no. 121-J4-179, one of a few known to exist. The company went bankrupt in 1920. This restored tractor, in good running order, has lineage through the Schaaf and Erdle collections and went on to change hands for £87,862, after 64 bids. The…

Since the Covid-19 lockdown in March 2020, no public events or major gatherings have taken place in Northern Ireland, writes James Connolly. All tractor events and shows were cancelled or postponed. With the recent easing of restrictions, a group of vintage clubs and enthusiasts on the Ards Peninsula organised a tractor road run. This was one of the first events of its kind to take place in Northern Ireland this year. After receiving approval from the necessary authorities, the event took place on 19 July. More than 200 tractors, 30 lorries, some classic cars and Land Rovers assembled in the car park of the coastal village of Millisle, Co. Down. All participants observed social distancing and stayed alongside their vehicles until the event moved off, shortly after 2pm. There was…

Fordson Super Dexta Q During the summer I have been using my 1964 Fordson Super Dexta with a six-foot Votex topping mower, but recently it has developed an appetite for coolant. I cannot see any external leaks, but all the water seems to be pumping out of the radiator overflow pipe. With autumn approaching I’d like to service the tractor and replenish the anti-freeze, but it’ll be a waste of time and anti-freeze if this continues. What do you think the cause of the problem may be? Brian Johnson, Kent A The problem you are experiencing sounds like a blown cylinder head gasket. You can test for this by allowing the engine to cool down and then fill the cooling system with water to the brim of the radiator filler neck, making…

Amazingly, Cheffins has come up with an ‘ultra-rare’ veteran tractor for its next Sutton Vintage Collective on Saturday 24 October – one of two known to exist. The William Weeks of Maidstone, Dungey-designed Simplex tractor was a reasonable success, with the company making more than 35 of this design. It features a Waukesha 30hp engine and has some American influence over it in places. It was intended for the Kent and Sussex hop gardens and orchards, where William Weeks was well known for its hop sprayers, tar boilers, general engineering and even a few traction engines. Later on the company made Fordson F and N hopgarden conversions, of which a number are in preservation today. The company’s works was on Weeks Street and had a lot going for it when…

On Saturday 29 August, Bletsoes held a dispersal sale on behalf of T J Freer of Ash Tree Farm, Desborough, Northamptonshire. The sale saw as many as 2,000 bidders attend, with the first lots rather cramped. As for the tractors and other machinery, they were placed in the car park field, which was a lot better. These were sold from 1pm before the sale then moved back to the front yard for the breaker tractors, lorries and a Field-Marshall Series Two. It was said to be a runner, but was clearly not judging by the disconnected pipes, but it had potential and reached a very good £9,400. A Roadless 95, in grade 2/9 condition, changed hands at £8,000. There was certainly plenty to go for and the prices were about…

The Ford 8200 seen here in all its glory belongs to James Briggs and his son, James Jnr., from Drumaghlis in Co. Down. The Briggs duo farm, but also repair and sell used farm machinery – specialising in Ford and New Holland models. Their prized Ford 8200 was built by County Commercial Cars at Fleet, Hampshire, for Ford, with the model having been launched at the Smithfield Show in December 1980. The 8200 replaced the 8100, also built by County, and was manufactured between 1980 and 1982. Although it was based on the two-wheel drive, four-cylinder Ford 7700, the 8200 used the six-cylinder Ford 401S engine – a de-rated version of the motor fitted to the 128hp (DIN) Ford 8700. Priced at £23,000 (+VAT), the 8200 was aimed at the…

When Massey Ferguson launched its ‘Rugged new breed’ MF 100 Series tractors to the American market in 1965, the Super 90 and badge-engineered 97 had been its main high-horsepower offerings. To match the styling of its new range, MF offered the Perkins six-cylinder-powered 1100 and 1130, but it would be the end of the decade before a V8-powered tractor graced the line-up. This was the first time in Massey Ferguson’s history that a V8 diesel engine had been mated to one of its conventional wheeled machines and the company’s initial launch brochure proudly boasted this model to be ‘The World’s First V8 Row Crop Tractor’. Engine The model’s awesome lugging power was provided by a 510cu in V8 diesel engine manufactured by Perkins of Peterborough. With a bore of 4.25in…

As you drive north on the A93 past Blairgowrie and into the foothills of the Highlands, the scenery starts to change. Despite the fact it was early summer, there is still some snow on the hills. “I originally come from Fife, and moved up here a few years back,” Mike Aitken told me. “When I was a teenager I served my time as a lorry mechanic and worked for a company that specialised in cattle floats. Fife is mainly a rural community with many livestock farms, and these specialist trucks were very popular. “Unfortunately, as modern commercial vehicles became more reliable, the job got a bit tedious. I seemed to spend most of my day checking brakes and changing tyres. In the end I decided I’d had enough and ended…

Owing to constraints of space and time, we can only give you a brief review of what’s been going on in September, which has seen several records broken. It started on Thursday 3 September, when Halls held the E B and J B Green farm machinery disposal sale near Billingsley, Shropshire. Of interest to us was an F A Standen-supplied 1972 Massey Ferguson 1505, registered SEB 683S, with 5,099 hours on the clock and in original condition and good running order. It went on to sell for £19,000 +VAT. Interestingly, the tractor has been around a bit, residing in Ireland before returning to the north of England, the vendor told me. A clean-looking, sweet running, but worn out 1971 MF 135 went to sell for £4,950 +VAT. Barbers Auctions held…

With the July Much Marcle Steam Rally and Welland Steam & Country Rally cancelled, H J Pugh decided to create a sale combining both popular auctions at the company’s site at Ledbury, on Saturday 1 August. It turned out to be a great success, with a genuine 1947 Field -Marshall Series I Contractor Mk2, that has featured in Tractor & Machinery before, selling for £16,500. One point noted from this sale is the fact that the prices for Massey Ferguson 35 and 135 are creeping up again – particularly as the examples that sold in this auction were not the best. SALE RESULTS (ABRIDGED):…

The rescheduled Aumman Auctions Graham Sellers sale took place on Saturday 25 July, on a warm, but cloudy day at Stillwater, Michigan. I had the pleasure of taking a P&J Tours group to Graham’s collection at one time, where we were made so welcome. Unfortunately, things looked rather unloved, even though many of the lots needed only light work to see them all running again and that applied to many of the steam engines that mostly had good boiler reports. I have had the privilege of seeing many of these tractors and steamers at Wauseon in Ohio and at various rallies in Michigan over the years. As for the prices achieved, they were not bad, but with all that’s going a number were a little below par. Both in-person and…

Another sale to change its date at rather short notice was Nixon Auctioneers’ Denis Johnson sale at Ceresco, near Lincoln, Nebraska. It was originally planned for 25 July, but it actually took place a week earlier! The weather was warm for the sale, which allowed bidding in person as well as online, but the date change meant that some missed out. The stock was not in the same league as the Graham Sellers sale, but it had good elements and something for everyone. The highlight was a 1920 Minneapolis 22-44, no. 1730, that went on to make £35,154. The prices were slightly flat, with Covid-19 dampening things down.…

Self-propelled forage harvesters today are expensive, highly-sophisticated and very powerful machines that can only really be justified by large contractors with enough acres of grass, maize and whole-crop to justify their huge initial outlay. If you are a farmer that would like to keep control of your harvesting operations, the alternative is to purchase one of the few, new, trailed forage harvesters available or buy a used self-propelled machine One dairy farmer from East Sussex has, for many years now, gone down the route of using an old self-propelled forage harvester for all of the grass and some of the maize silage, while also hiring in a modern machine for the bulk of the busy maize harvest. John Ford has more than 500 dairy cattle to feed during the winter…

Hürlimann 6160 Having completely refurbished a 1981 Hürlimann 6130, 5110, 4/90 and a 4/80 (see T&M Spring 2019), all originally supplied by dealer William Taylor of Coleraine, Co. Derry, enthusiast Damian McKenna has recently completed his collection by acquiring a 6160 model. There are only two 6160 models in the UK, one of which is near Scarborough, but a dealer called Hughes Agri, of Trim in Co. Meath, sold two new 6160 models during the 1980s but, purportedly, both no longer survive. This left two others in Ireland – one at Glenamaddy, Co. Galway, that also rusted away, and one that Damian discovered in Co. Fermanagh. This particular tractor was brought to Republic of Ireland from The Netherlands in 2000 by Brogan Tractors of Co. Roscommon, where it was fitted…

TO BUY AND SELL TRACTORS AND MACHINERY, VISIT THE NEW WEBSITE: WWW.KELSEYMARKETPLACE.CO.UK Welcome It’s been a record-breaking September with unbelievable prices and we are still building up to the big autumn sale on Saturday 24 October, when Cheffins unleashes its second collective of the year. It looks excellent with the star set to be the 1915 Weeks-Dungey Simplex – one of two in existence, with both in similar condition from what I can see. This one left Kent 45 years ago and was restored in Cornwall before making the journey back to the Kent County Show in 1971, for its rally debut. There are plenty of other veterans, vintage and classics set to be featured in the sale too, including a restored MB trac 1000. In mid-summer we saw a…

As ever, the latest Euro Auctions tractor sale saw a wide selection of tractors at the company’s Leeds base, with around 70 tractors going under the hammer on 12 August. The condition of the tractors in the sale varied too, with some work-worn machines being sold alongside some that had done very little work, but as there are no reserves at a Euro Auctions sale, everything sells. Finding good quality, secondhand tractors is becoming more difficult as the months go on – as the top ones are being snapped up at premium prices. Here we look at the Massey Ferguson and Ford tractors that were sold in the sale. The Massey Ferguson 4435 was one of the first to be offered for sale and sold for £7,000 in grade 9.2…

All were in reasonable order, considering their age, and that was particularly the case for a 1978 Leyland 285 Synchro, registered NAT 59V, with 4,368 hours on the clock and a V5c. It went on to make an outstanding £4,200. A 1991 Massey Ferguson 3070 Autotronic with 2,264 hours on the clock went on to raise £8,900. All lots were subject to VAT unless indicated. SALE RESULTS (ABRIDGED):…