Innehållsförteckning för December 2020 från Tractor & Machinery

Hello and welcome to the December issue of T&M. I don’t like starting off on a negative note, but as I write I have just learned that Tractor World Spring has succumbed to the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic, which is disappointing to say the least. I know some of you have been working hard since the initial UK lockdown in March to get your projects completed in time for the 2021 show season, so news like this is a bitter pill to swallow. It seems surreal to think that the severity of Coronavirus was not fully appreciated when this year’s show took place, but here we are eight months on, following the cancellation of most events in 2020, and 2021 has already been affected. Let’s hope that this…

John Preece runs the family’s 720-acre arable farm based in Claverley, Shropshire, where a selection of crops is grown – rotating with wheat, barley, OSR, oats and sugar beet. The farm is home to a fleet of machines in excellent condition that are extremely well cared for. Unique within the fleet is a Matrot M31 self-propelled sugar beet harvester that replaced the farm’s previous harvester – a Matrot MT05. The M31 may be showing its age, but it is still used today alongside the modern machinery and is expected to complete the sugar beet harvest each year. This model is a rare sight in modern-day agriculture, but on this particular farm a Matrot still works the land as it would have done in its heyday, more than 30 years ago.…

The Howard Rotavator story began in 1912, when farmer’s son Arthur Clifford Howard, born in 1896, was working as an apprentice at an engineering firm. He had the family’s steam tractor at his disposal and set about rigging a power-driven disc cultivator behind the machine to deal with crop residues that would otherwise have to be burned or repeatedly disced. The results were promising, but not as desired and so Howard set about mounting flanges to a power-driven rotor. Various blade designs were attached to these flanges as part of an experiment to achieve the desired result. WW1 intervened and Arthur travelled to England to work on munitions and aircraft engines, but when he returned, he once again picked up the baton and tackled the task head-on. With his design…

Browns’ is back! Browns’ Models is back… but in a smaller form. Cofounder Julian Brown has the story. Browns’ Models was one of the pioneers of 1:32-scale vintage farm tractor kits. It’s now 35 years since we took a short break in production, a break that was never intended to last so long! Both founder members of the Northumberland Vintage Tractor Club, it all started in 1975 when I bought a mint, boxed Britains Fordson E27N from Whitley Bay Model Shop, whilst business partner Eddie Brown, looking for examples of rural crafts for Northumberland’s working tractor rally, came across a firm making war-gaming models in Rothbury, and the idea was formed. New Hope Design provided us with the service of making patterns and finished kits, starting with a 1944 Fordson…

During the latter half of the season the South Eastern Vintage Agricultural Club (SEVAC) was able to hold two events that complied with Covid-19 regulations, says Peter Love. The first, on Sunday 16 August, saw approximately 20 tractors assemble at Whartons Farm, Isfield, Sussex for the club’s annual road run. It was social distancing all the way, as the runners set off – with an off-road section early on. The tractors headed to Simmonds Farm, Chailey, for the half-way stop, and all had returned to the starting point by 2.30pm having experienced a heavy shower of rain on the return leg. On 5-6 September at Stocks Farm, Spatham Lane, Ditchling, Sussex SEVAC’s working weekend took place, which was strongly supported by the members in great weather. They also celebrated the…

Welcome I write this just after the second Cheffins Vintage Collective sale of the year, in October, and as has been the way since the full lockdown was lifted, prices roared away in all quarters, says Peter Love. Not quite all of the tractors sold at the sale, but this was mostly because high reserves were placed on the unsold lots. The root of the success throughout the sales sector has certainly been the auctioneers’ adaptability to the prevailing conditions. In most cases auction houses resumed operations behind closed doors, but with visiting arrangements to view the lots. For some this meant a further extension of its online arrangements, but for others it has meant bigger changes, with online bidding for the first time. There are still a few that…

In the beginning, what was destined to become the most iconic County model ever produced, the 1884, a somewhat rapid evolution into a production model took place. Most of the principal County components were already developed and in production in the shape of the 1254/1454, launched in July 1972 at the Royal Show, and then 1464/1474 in 1978, introduced at the Royal Smithfield Show in London, so it was really the detail items that had to be revised to enable the fitment to the evolving Ford ‘big six’ tractors, which were, of course, the ‘prime movers’ of the County range. Up to the time when Ford introduced the 8000/9000 range, County did not have a six-cylinder Ford tractor on which to base its own models, so it had been using…

Two things are certain about the attention-getting International Harvester B-414 that’s proudly used with care and taken to shows by owners Jim and Barb Scharpf of rural Rubicon, Wisconsin. Firstly, there is not another B-414 in this area. It is a true rarity in these rolling hills of Kettle Moraine Country, north-west of metropolitan Milwaukee. And the second fact is that without Jim’s careful, patient attention, this tractor might have become just another rusted memory. People in this portion of rural Wisconsin’s hilly and historic Dodge and Washington counties value their rural tradition. My grandmother was born here. Her parents and great-grandparents came from places like Baden-Wuerttemberg and Bohemia to begin new lives on the land that they worked. Angela Schreiber’s father, Joseph, learned the masonry trade here after working…

Commonly referred to in the trade as Ward’s of Egham, the company was a famous steam roller contractor into the 1950s, but it had other facets and was known for not throwing anything away! Besides having a sizable fleet of steam rollers, of which seven are preserved today, A J Ward & Sons Ltd. had a particularly strong connection with steam equipment manufacturer Wallis & Steevens, located not far away in Basingstoke, Hampshire, and was also a sizeable agricultural contractor in the area – with several sets of steam ploughing engines and various steam traction engines for threshing. The company is also famous for owning two 170hp Fowler Gyrotillers. The only survivor (No. 20681) came to Ward’s on 6 April 1935 and was meticulously restored by engineer John Clarke, who…

A Ferguson ploughing day took place in early autumn near Killinchy, Co. Down, writes James Connolly. A small number of Ferguson and MF enthusiasts came together to test out their tractors and ploughs on stubble belonging to James and David Adams. Social distancing rules were observed and everyone kept safe by complying with the guidelines in place at the time. The highlight of the day for many was seeing two Ferguson-Brown tractors at work. James and David own a 1938 Ferguson-Brown tractor that was bought new and has been in the family for three generations. In March 1938, Harry Ferguson demonstrated their tractor (no. 498) and two-furrow plough in the same field that these pictures were taken 82 years later. The tractor and plough came out to the farm in…

H J Pugh held a preservation sale on behalf of the widow of Terry Francis, who was a regular exhibitor at Tractor World over the years. Atwindy Hill Farm, Fishguard, Rodbaxton, Haverfordwest, was the place to be on Saturday 17 October. Prices were ‘hot’ from the off for the implements. Much of the stock was well restored and that reflected in the prices. MF fans were paying strong prices all the way through the sale and that included £22,000 for a grade 5 (no cab or roll bar) four-wheel drive, French-built Massey Ferguson 158. French-made MF tractors are usually something that die-hard UK fans of the marque turn their noses up at, but not here! The highest-priced MF 135 (4,849 hours) to be sold so far this year was a restored,…

FMC Auctions was at it again on Saturday 24 October in Ballymoney, Co. Antrim, with its annual automotive and collectibles sale, featuring everything from models, tractor seats and memorabilia to classic cars, commercials and tractors. Prices were good, as expected, with the majority of the tractors sold from the sale. The highlight was a restored 1956 David Brown 50D in grade 5 condition, sold for £36,000. RESULTS (ABRIDGED): Ertl 1:16 John Deere 5030 and plough, 2/4, £20 Ertl 1:16 John Deere backhoe/loader, 2, £50 UH 1:16 David Brown 990, 3, £80 UH 1:16 Massey Ferguson 35, 3, £75 UH 1:16 County Super-Four, 3, £70 1:16 McCormick with manure spreader, 2/4, £55 1:32 Corgi MF 165 (x5), 3, £20-40 each 1:32 Britains TE-20, £35 Ferguson spanner, £25 Nicholson of Newark seat,…

More than 30 dealerships in the UK are taking delivery of the all-new Fendt 300 and 700 Series tractors. The fourth generation 300 Series is available with four power outputs ranging from 113-142hp, whilst the 700 Series has six models offering 144-237hp. The eagerly awaited new tractors are the first to feature the new FendtOne interface that connects the tractors to a new Fendt farm management system. This enables the farm or fleet manager to send tasks to the tractor’s terminal and receive data from the operator when the task is complete. “FendtOne is the future for Fendt operators worldwide. The new terminal in the cab, and the option for additional screens, enable operators to structure their tasks more easily and efficiently. It also facilitates the real-time transfer of data…

In the late 1950s pressure was mounting on the major tractor manufacturers to increase the size and power of their models. Ford had been producing the Diesel Major since the early ’50s and so a relatively straightforward evolution enabled it to market the Power Major in the final years of the decade. BMC had been turning out Nuffield models from the late 1940s and, like Ford, chose to update its tractors throughout the ’50s, resulting in the Nuffield Universal models being introduced in 1957. David Brown’s 900 model, a tractor plagued by reliability issues (see T&M September 2020) became the 950 in 1958 and at the same time the B-450 began flying the flag for International Harvester. Massey Ferguson also recognised the need to upgrade its offering and, having enjoyed…

The Upper Test Valley Vintage Club’s annual Longstock Rally was held on 12-13 September as a members-only event, writes Peter Love. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, ongoing dialogue between organisers and both the local and county council meant that the event was only given the go-ahead to run as a public event at short notice, so it was decided that a members-only event was the safest option within the time frame. A recent injection of ‘fresh blood’ has seen the club go from strength to strength and rally chairman Andy Knight has done a good job in raising awareness of what has become a popular event. David Aylward has come in as the club’s vice-chairman and he helped organise the tractor section at the rally, with wife Avis running the car…

The phrase ‘one thing leads to another’ is very appropriate when it comes to my David Brown 25D. It featured in the November issue when I replaced the radiator hoses and fan belt, but doing this uncovered some other niggly faults with the tractor. It is my intention to use the tractor at ploughing matches and road runs in the future, so I need it to be reliable. Whilst attempting to fit the new fan belt it was noticed that a chunk of the water pump pulley had been broken off at some point. Having invested in a new belt I wasn’t happy to leave it, which would probably chew up the new belt in a short time. Some slight play in the fan shaft was present too, although the…

East Anglia-based auctioneer Cheffins hosted an onsite sale for collector Malcolm Beaton on Saturday 10 October, near Shepton Mallet in Somerset. The sale of classic Ford tractors and four-wheel drive derivatives and spares was the third such auction that Cheffins had conducted for Malcolm Beaton since the ’90s and included around 70 Ford, County and Roadless classics and at least 500 lots of County and Ford spares. Malcolm has been a keen collector for a number of years and has brought some wonderful gems back to the UK from Australia, New Zealand, the West Indies, Canada, USA and other parts of the world, including Europe, over the years. He has finally decided to take it easier and to concentrate on his boat yard in Cornwall. The top prices paid on…

PART I-J The prices are based on tractors sold at sales, on the Internet, privately and in some overseas markets too. Naturally, prices change as time progresses and it’s not always an upward trend, but you will get a good indication of what’s going on with the current market by referring to our guide. Here are a few pointers on buying a tractor to help you. If you are looking for a tractor to buy for restoration, or work, there’s a vast choice. However, if you are looking for something specific, do weigh up your options first, particularly if you have a limited budget. If it’s a popular model, then it’s not always to your advantage to go for the first one you see. Whatever is wrong with the tractor,…