Tractor & Farming Heritage
January 2014
Celebrating the history and development of the tractor
CONTENTS
TRACTOR AND FARMING HERITAGE JANUARY 2014
3 Welcome
18 News
All the latest news in the world of
tractors and heritage.
22 Tractor Talk
All your news, views and comments
around the classic and vintage scene.
56 Modellers’ paradise
Henry Smith reports on the Toytrac
Farm Toy and Model Show.
78 Memorabilia – the next big thing?
Jo Roberts visits the extensive John
Farnworth Massey-Harris collection to
explore the world of tractor
memorabilia.
84 Inspecting the troops
Graham Hampstead heads up north on
‘sheep business’.
103 Next month
Preview of the February issue of Tractor
&Farming Heritage.
122 Tractor widow
Jean Brown’s female friend displays a
sudden liking for John Deere tractors.
6 Mind the generation gap
We compare two mid-power Massey
Fergusons – one of the last 100 series
with one of the next-generation 500s.
12 Yet another dazzler!
With a stupendous array of entries, and
surprises around every corner, we
review Britain’s foremost tractor show.
26 Dave’s tractors
Dave Taylor has plenty of tales to tell
about his tractors, as he explains…
27 Don’t get me started
Graham Hampstead discovers that the
larger an organisation gets the more
useless it becomes.
28 What a difference a day makes
Charles Bryant Jnr. tells us about his
mother and her wartime work on a
farm driving a tractor as well as
horses.
Regulars
YourTractors
32 Ancient ploughs and furrowed brows
There are many aspects to our
farming heritage and ways to keep
our traditions alive; Jo Roberts looks
at how ploughing matches play
their part.
34 Ford’s ‘narrow gauge’ line
It’s perhaps not unusual to find a Ford
3600 orchard tractor like this In the
depths of Kent – but a narrow gauge
tractor at the Bredgar & Wormshill Light
Railway?
40 Enthusiasts from the far side
Jo Roberts finds that there are Fordson
Fanatics in all four corners of the earth.
42 By the power of elec-trickery
When John Escolme’s International
B-275 restoration ground to a halt he
came up with a brainwave to dissolve
the rusty problem away.
48 The Home Farm diaries - January 1969
We follow the fortunes, or lack of them,
of H.R. through the farming year month
by month - anytime from the 1940s to
the 1990s.
52 The Oxfordshire Waggon
“So what was it like when I was young
and the horse drawn waggons were
being used 70 years and more ago?”
asks John Blake.
60 British Tractors 1945-1965
Stuart Gibbard tells us about his latest
book, which recalls the era when Britain
was at the forefront of world tractor
production
63 Tractor Archive
More heritage memories from the
farming literature of yesterday.
68 Double the Power!
We take a look at Sweden’s quest for
greater output with tandem tractor
conversions.
72 Gray ‘Drum Drive’
A quaint design that showed potential
but never quite made enough impact to
survive.
74 The Tolbooth revamped
Polly Pullar continues her visit to the
‘Magpie of the Mearns’, Jim Bruce, who
unveils another vast haul of artefacts to
her down in the harbour at Stonehaven.
88 Make do and mend
If you’ve got the time and the
inclination, repairing your tinwork can
be a highly satisfying and rewarding
process says Ben Phillips.
92 Don’t let starters wind you up
Now the starter ring gear has been
tackled, Richard Lofting moves the next
critical assembly along the line - the
pre-engaged starter motor.
96 Buying a tractor - suits you sir!
Ben Phillips continues to measure up the
marketplace by looking at some more of
the popular tractor marques that could
be a perfect fit for you.
Marketplace
104 Sale Preview
The George Mutch Collection at Forfar
Mart, Lawrie and Symington, January 18.
106 It’s red and it’s a record
Cheffins Vintage Sale, Sutton, Cambs,
October 19.
CONTENTS
TRACTOR AND FARMING HERITAGE JANUARY 2014
3 Welcome
18 News
All the latest news in the world of
tractors and heritage.
22 Tractor Talk
All your news, views and comments
around the classic and vintage scene.
56 Modellers’ paradise
Henry Smith reports on ....