The first tractor appeared on “Loloma” in 1948. While tractors had been around for a while, the technology was expensive and severely limited during the war years of 1939-45. Tractors represented a major change in farming – allowing for larger implements to be pulled with more productive time in every day. However, the change from horse teams to tractors would not have been instantaneous.
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This is the first tractor purchased for Loloma. It was a Fordson Major E27N running on kerosene. It was the equivalent of 19 horsepower – a huge increase on the 6 horse team which preceded it. In the picture is my father Jim standing behind the tractor on the right and Ted his father seated on the tractor. |
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Here is another picture of the arrival of the new tractor with Aunty Dot (left – dads sister) and Connie Woods (next door neighbour) looking on. It was a big event. |
The next tractor to arrive on Loloma was a Massey-Harris 745. We have no pictures of this machine as it burnt during harvest on the farm. Apparently it had always had a weeping fuel bowl, which was located directly above some electrical wiring. I don’t think I need to explain what happened next, but it was a warm time at Tichborne that year…..
From here came the era of Dad and Jack Broderick. Jack Broderick was a well know local machinery dealer who imported Fiat tractors. He was also a good salesman and friend as Dad went through a series of tractors every 2-5 years. Dad recounts the story of hearing from farmers that attended the Trundle show machinery display (held the week before our Parkes show) being told by Jack that ‘this was the tractor Jimmy Kingham had purchased’, before Dad knew anything about it.
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His first fiat was a Grey Fiat 513R 3 Cylinder 52 HP, then an orange Fiat 640 4 Cylinder 64 HP, followed by an orange Fiat 650 4 Cylinder 65 HP tractor. None of these tractors had any sort of rollover protection or shade. The picture on the left is of next tractor, the Fiat 750 pictured at harvest time. The picture has my sister Jenny and a friend Geoff sowing bags of ‘chick wheat’ during their university holidays. Dad purchased an aftermarket fibreglass roof (shown in the picture). It was felt to be so valuable that we kept it when the tractor was traded in and is currently sitting in the shed awaiting the next tractor that we might buy without a cabin 😉 – Times change…. |
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The next tractor in the Fiat Dynasty was a Fiat 1000. It had a 6 Cylinder engine of approximately 100 hp, but only lasted a single year before it was traded in. The cabin had a blower (not air conditioned). It retained the trademark design shared by the fiat 640 to 1000 models. |
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So now we are getting to my time as a tractor driver. As mentioned in a previous post – I remember the arrival of this tractor very well, in 1986. This was Dads last tractor purchase. It was powered by a 6 Cylinder 115 HP engine with a syncro gearbox and two speed PTO shaft. The cabin was designed by ferrari – it had a radio and the cabin was quiet enough to hear it. And did I mention refrigerative air-conditioning? Its a tractor that is still in use today with approximately 9600 hours on it. |
There were also a series of demo tractor trials which included my favourite – the Mercedes Benz (the only one I have ever sat in) MB-TRAC as well as some Masseys thrown in for fun. In addition to this, there were the secondary utility tractors – a Fordson major, an international 554-A and the Belarus 575. These tractors were useful for hay raking, harrowing, post hole digging attachments or front end loader work. The Belarus is still with us on the farm and requires a post by itself, so the less said here the better….
Jenny and I returned to the farm in the 1990’s and started our own tractor history, which is also the source of another post.
NeilK