RAMBLINGS

Tractor Pull - American style

Harry Ferguson Story
This Ferguson tractor story comes straight from Harry Ferguson’s grandson, who tells of a 60Hp Ferguson tractor which never made it into full production.
This information came from Vintage Tractor Engineer’s farming neighbour. The neighbour was looking to buy some dairy cows and a whole herd was advertised on the Isle of White. It turned out that the seller of the cows was none other than the grandson of Harry Ferguson, who runs a Ferguson museum on the island as well as Harry Ferguson Farms LTD at Kings Manor, Freshwater.
VTE’s neighbour was told the story of a Ferguson tractor that never went into production. Clearly the Massey Ferguson 35 was a successful tractor and Harry wanted to capitalise and improve on the machine by introducing a 60Hp version for the larger farms. The story goes that 6 of these prototype tractors were manufactured and sent out onto farms. This happened at the time after Ferguson had sold out to Massey Harris and all tractors were now been sold under the Massey Ferguson brand. Harry was delighted with the new 60Hp version and expected the model to outsell all other competition and propell Massey Ferguson into a league above all the other tractor manufacturers. At this time though, Harry was now only an employee of the Massey Ferguson Corporation and did not have the final say any more over tractor production decisions. The company chiefs decided to shelve the 60Hp Ferguson designed tractor in favour of their own Massey Harris designed tractor.
Sadly, of the 6 prototype tractors, 5 were recalled to the factory where they were broken up. The 6th one remained out on farm and was forgotten about. The farmer had bought the tractor and it was so reliable that it ran for many years without needing any repairs or new parts. One day the tractor had a fault and so the owner sent it in to the local MF dealers to be repaired. They had seen nothing like it before and did not know that the model had ever existed. When the dealer enquired to the factory the factory offered to take back the prototype and supply the farmer with a brand new Massey Ferguson tractor and of course the farmer was highly delighted that he had been able to swap his old tractor for a brand new one
Now for the sad part of this story. That 6th tractor was also broken up by the factory and any traces of the model’s existence were destroyed. One wanders what would have happened had Massey Ferguson gone with the Ferguson design in favour of the Massey Harris designed 65. Harry Ferguson was a man who not only understood the tractor market, but also knew his design would be a huge success. Apparently Harry was of the opinion that Massey Ferguson would have killed off most of the competition from other tractor manufacturers if the company had brought the 60Hp Ferguson into production.

6 minutes of the 2007 Oregon Tractor & Steam Rally filmed by Graham Meyer

17-year-old to Travel Australia in a Tractor for Charity
Sam Hughes is no ordinary 17-year-old. He's on a mission to travel the country in an unusual form of transport.
Hailing from Maleny, he has big plans to cover as much ground as possible throughout Australia all for charity.
But he'll be doing it loud and proud, tackling the roads on his Chamberlain 9G Tractor.
To see more of his travels click on the link below to:-
THE TRAVELING JACKEROO

Vertical Divider

85-year-old car heads around Australia

TRAVELLING 14,500km across the Australian landscape under the hot sun would be a challenge for most cars.
But not for a 1929 Model A Ford.
The 85-year-old car, known as Blue, took Peter and Suzanne Finnigan around the country over three months.
The vintage car enthusiasts hit the road from Rockhampton in August to make their way to Busselton in Western Australia for the 23rd Australian National Model A Ford Meet.
Peter, 67, said they decided to see all of Australia along the way with their trusty car Blue, which they bough from a friend nine years ago.
"A friend had done (the car) up, I put a new motor in it before the trip and it ran like clock work," Peter said.
The Rockhampton couple headed across the top of Australia for the first leg of their trip.
"We had time at plenty of different coastal spots, and we even went through the Nullarbor Plain," Peter said.
"We averaged 500km a day."
Peter said while the car was running great, it was still 85 years old and ran into minor trouble.
"We had a couple of flat tyres and minor electrical problems; but I replaced parts and everything was fine," Peter said"The Model A is renowned as a reliable vehicle."
The couple took an inland route through Mildura to get back to the Beef Capital, as they wanted to avoid traffic with Blue sitting on 75 km/h.
"With driving a car like that, you need to drive it to its capabilities," Peter said.
Peter, whose hobby has been cars for 45 years, had this trip on his mind since he retired and originally wanted to buy a caravan for the trip around Australia.But in the end Blue was the way to go. "It was a great experience," Peter said.

Every Australia Day Chris Holmes settles into the seat of his Chamberlain Super 90 tractor fully expecting to win the tractor pulling competition.
It’s the event of the year for the town of Wombat, 15 kilometres south of Young in the South West Slopes region and it draws tractor enthusiasts from all over south eastern NSW.
Chris Holmes in his Chamberlain Super 90, competing in the annual tractor-pulling competition in Wombat, NSW.
This year, 2021, there was a fear that the pandemic would mean the event would not go ahead, but an all clear was given by the council in the nick of time.
For Chris, who currently has more than 100 vintage tractors on his block, it is always a chance to show off the best Australian built machines and to provide a walk-through of the history of local and imported tractors
“We have Chamberlains, AW6s, Internationals and well over 100 other tractors,” he said.
“The Chamberlain Super 90, which is an Australian made tractor from the early 1950s, is still our best pulling tractor. Up against some of the modern tractors of its own size, it goes pretty well.
Chris Holmes and his brother with their father in the 1960s – possibly when his passion for tractors began.Chris says that he buys his tractor exhibits from farmers around the country where many an historic gem can be found rusting away and forgotten in farm sheds.
“We just started out with a couple of tractors we were trying to get parts for and it grew from there. We are always looking for more,” he says.

Milang Vintage Machinery Club visit to the
Birdwood National Motor Museum, Holden Exhibition.

Vintage caravan renovations explode in popularity as COVID-19 restricts summer holiday travel plans.
They're popping up at caravan sites across the country.
Parked alongside flashy modern rigs are a growing number of vintage caravans, with renovations that leave the sticky-beaks lining up for a look.
As COVID-19 puts a hold on international travel plans and Australians look closer to home for their holidays, caravans have been exploding in popularity.
But vintage vans — in original or renovated condition — are in particularly high demand, with many snapped up within hours of going on the market.
Some renovated vintage caravans are being sold for close to $20,000 and on Facebook pages van owners share renovation tips and plan meet ups at caravan parks across the country.

The First Car Around Australia
Around the time of the dawn of motoring and new kind of adventure developed. Exploration of new lands was still one of the greatest challenges for mankind, and motorcars added an extra dimension to the possibilities.

By the 1920s car manufacturers also realized the publicity benefits of their cars conquering exotic lands, and the company founder Andre Citroen was probably the most adept at this. The crossings of the Sahara and into China by Citroens became renowned world-wide, with news-reels and magazine stories showing these great escapades.

Australia was one of the great unconquered challenges. In 1925, a 22-year old Western Australian evangelist, Nevill Westwood set off for a trip to the North-west of Western Australia in his 1922 model Citroen 5CV. Not long before, he had bought the second hand Baby Citroen, which had already covered 40,000 miles.

Taking his friend, student Greg Davies in the passenger seat, the journey would eventually take on incredible proportions. With no intention to gain notoriety or fame, ultimately their trip would take them right around Australia – and into the history books as the first ever to achieve this.

If you thought that a tiny 2-seater car with an 856cc 4-cylinder engine would be the best suited car for such an adventure, you'd be right. Considering Nevill was six-foot-three and Greg measured an inch taller, they would have been a very tight fit in the cockpit of the car they dubbed 'Bubsy'. In spite of its diminutive size, lack of power and simple specification, Bubsy proved well and truly up to the gargantuan task, but it wasn't all smooth sailing. Click HERE to continue the story...