Tractor & Farming Heritage
November 2011
Celebrating the history and development of the tractor
Regulars
3 Welcome
12 News
Whats going on in the world of tractors.
16 Diversity brings X factor to Newark Show
No were not talking about those TV talent shows, its almost time for that real life tractor spectacular - The Newark Vintage Tractor and Heritage Show.
18 All John Deeres great and small
A special display of John Deere tractors will be the highlight of this years Newark Vintage Tractor & Heritage Show. Pete Kelly sets the scene.
70 Tractor Talk
Your views and product reviews.
74 Model World
Henry Smith takes his regular review of the latest new models to hit the shelves.
80 Fuel filter frolics come to an end
At last it looks like Graham Hampstead has solved the fuel problems on the David Brown he has been working on - but there are plenty of other things to be getting on with!
84 No hill too steep, no ditch too deep!
We meet Recovery Operator Bill Hesleton, and its clear from a quick glance around his yard that he specialises in what one might call extreme recovery.
88 Its a mad, mad world
Polly Pullar debates that the increasing portfolio of crazy rules and regulations inflicted upon us is little short of bureaucratic bedlam.
120 Farming Focus: Getting the harvest home
Come harvest time the sheaves once ripe and dry had to be carted home and built into stacks.
121 Rare breeds
No. 92 Red Ruby Devon Cattle
122 Next month
Preview of the December issue of Tractor magazine.
Your tractors
6 American Express
A 40mph, steel-cabbed tractor from 1938, the result of a five-year restoration. Is this the only Minneapolis-Moline Comfortractor in Britain?
28 Standing out from the crowd
Fords revolutionary Select-O-Speed 5000 tractors may well have been technically advanced but essentially flawed, but it did not deter Paul Backhouse from acquiring two of them.
34 New set of clothes
This David Brown Cropmaster has often been seen at ploughing matches in its off farm condition, so to see it restored with the paint hardly dry was somewhat of a surprise.
39 Shovelling or grading - the MF 244 does it all
We talk to James Graham, a farmer on the Isle of Man, who owns a true classic tracked tractor, a Massey Ferguson 244 Crawler Shovel Digger.
46 Making tracks
The Old Dalby Working Weekend in Leicestershire during August provided an excellent opportunity to see some good old vintage machinery in action.
50 Heart transplants
Two Ferguson conversions by a father and son - Rover V8 and Ford Transit - one offering 50mph on the road, the other a very usable working tractor.
64 Familiar yet different
Tractor enthusiast Bob Griggs has the knack of finding something familiar yet different when it comes to his restoration projects, like this French built MF 821.
66 In rust we trust
Sometimes it takes a lot of imagination to see an apparent basket case in all its fully restored glory, take this 1951 OTA Mk II for example...
Farming heritage
23 More than meets the eye
A skid unit is a curious thing, barely recognisable as a tractor at all, stripped of tyre sets and glossy superstructure, you would be forgiven for not knowing what on earth it was for.
54 Alecs Cuttings No. 41 An even better tractor
In part two of our mini-series we continue to chart the history of David Brown and witness the further development of tractors and implements from 1948 onwards.
58 Three generations on the land. Part two - The Ferguson era
We continue the story of Grahams Suffolk farm as the 1940s gives way to the 1950s and a Ferguson TE-20 changes the way the farm is run forever!
In the workshop
77 Replacing engine core plugs
On an engine block or cylinder head you will see round plugs around the periphery, these are core plugs. Richard Lofting shows how they can be replaced.
Marketplace
42 The Great Dorset dust down
If the sun shines on the righteous, then this years Great Dorset Steam Fair truly was home to the great and the good.
92 Road runs, rallies and ploughing event reports
Our roundup of whats going on out and about on the tractor scene.
102 Sales & Marketplace
In depth coverage of the big Cheffins Harrogate sale is included in this months auction coverage.
Regulars
3 Welcome
12 News
Whats going on in the world of tractors.
16 Diversity brings X factor to Newark Show
No were not talking about those TV talent shows, its almost time for that real life tractor spectacular - The Newark Vintage Tractor and Heritage Show.
18 All....