|
|
Post by Red Rackham on Mar 4, 2023 18:13:23 GMT
This is all well and good, but I fail to see what farming has got to do with tomatoe shortages Mags, it's called a digressing, as in life forum conversations will inevitably digress. |
|
|
|
Post by zanygame on Mar 4, 2023 18:14:07 GMT
By the 'tractor' do you mean the steam engine? They took over from the horse in the 1850's Not in any great numbers they didn't. Most farms were still using horses at the start of WWII. Ploughing with steam engines was pretty inefficient. They were too heavy to work the land by towing a plough or a cultivator directly behind them unless the land was bone dry and had to work in pairs using winches to move a plough back and forth between them. My brother in law is into steam big time, he could 'rivet' you for hours on various points re steam. But one interesting thing was the working in pairs you mention, hauling the plough back and forth across the field. Apparently even this apparently wasteful method was far more efficient than using horses. These plough were not self driven but pulled by horses, moved into position and then pulled the plough on a chain across the field and back. |
|
|
|
Post by zanygame on Mar 4, 2023 18:17:49 GMT
Ah, found some photos of the Dexta in action.   A break in the action while we wait for the belt to go back on the binder. It amazes me that the belts don't come off more often but it's actually very rare.  Are you living in 1967? |
|
|
|
Post by zanygame on Mar 4, 2023 18:19:20 GMT
This is all well and good, but I fail to see what farming has got to do with tomatoe shortages Mags, it's called a digressing, as in life forum conversations will inevitably digress. Come on Mags lets us have some fun, we can't be at each others throats 24/7, we need a break. 😋 |
|
|
|
Post by Orac on Mar 4, 2023 18:25:01 GMT
I was making a rather duff attempt at humour. I do agree with it was a bit rubbish, but please, the crowd has to work with me a bit.
No link at all between food shortages and farming?
Btw - if that's 1967, can i go back as well?
|
|
|
|
Post by zanygame on Mar 4, 2023 18:26:50 GMT
The oldest tractor still working on this farm is a 1950s Fordson Dexta. Still needed because it has a pulley wheel (rather than a PTO) to drive the threshing drum and the corn grinder which are both belt driven. There is also a Fordson Major which may come out of retirement as it also has a pulley wheel and it will mean that the Dexta can remain in the threshing shed while the major takes over the grinding duties. It's only in the last few years that the Major was parked when a teleporter was purchased making the hydraulic forks on the Major obsolete. This is a similar aged Dexta although it looks in better condition than ours.  My uncle had a few tractors over the years. I remember one was orange with a long steering column, another was blue, so I imagine it was a Ford. As kids we had lots of fun on the farm, but looking back and I'm sure you agree, it was a dangerous place to play, especially years ago when safety was less of a concern than it is today. Yes very strange, but its a wonder none of us kids were killed. We thought we'd killed my brother one time, we built an aerial runway between to old Elms and as my brother swung out it snapped, he hit the ground and didn't move, we were just discussing who would tell my dad and get the beating when he came to. Funny how your mind works when your a kid. |
|
|
|
Post by Red Rackham on Mar 4, 2023 18:28:38 GMT
Ah, found some photos of the Dexta in action. Good heavens, is that an old telehandler in the background there Monte? How old is it, and what make is it? |
|
|
|
Post by Montegriffo on Mar 4, 2023 18:31:47 GMT
Not in any great numbers they didn't. Most farms were still using horses at the start of WWII. Ploughing with steam engines was pretty inefficient. They were too heavy to work the land by towing a plough or a cultivator directly behind them unless the land was bone dry and had to work in pairs using winches to move a plough back and forth between them. My brother in law is into steam big time, he could 'rivet' you for hours on various points re steam. But one interesting thing was the working in pairs you mention, hauling the plough back and forth across the field. Apparently even this apparently wasteful method was far more efficient than using horses. These plough were not self driven but pulled by horses, moved into position and then pulled the plough on a chain across the field and back. Every now and then we are treated to a bit of steam power on the farm. The owners are only too happy to come along and use their engines for what they were built for. The owner of this beast paid his own costs in having it brought here on a low loader and was even prepared to pay for the coal but Farmer Paul insisted that he at least paid for that. Otherwise all they took was some beef pasties I made from the farm's Suffolk Red Polls and a few beers.   |
|
|
|
Post by Montegriffo on Mar 4, 2023 18:33:39 GMT
I was making a rather duff attempt at humour. I do agree with it was a bit rubbish, but please, the crowd has to work with me a bit. No link at all between food shortages and farming?Btw - if that's 1967, can i go back as well? I got it Mags. Sometimes there are just bad audiences and jokes fly over their heads like a Douglas Adams deadline. |
|
|
|
Post by jonksy on Mar 4, 2023 18:33:47 GMT
My uncle & aunt bought a farm in 1960, their first tractor was a Little Grey Fergie and it was working all the time. It was the first motor vehicle I ever drove aged, nine or ten probably. They had other bigger tractors over the years but they kept that Little Grey Fergie until they retired. Aunty absolutely loved it.There is a whole market out there mate where collectors want to purchase and restore those little grey guys. |
|
|
|
Post by jonksy on Mar 4, 2023 18:36:33 GMT
Because most small farms couldn't afford to buy one. Also they didn't want to deprive so many people of their livelihoods. A tractor can replace 10 ploughmen and their horses and work for longer without needing rest. It was non-agricultural necessities and free tractors that accelerated the move from horses to mechanised farming. By the 'tractor' do you mean the steam engine? They took over from the horse in the 1850's Many of the steam plowing tractors were owned by companies who did the steam plowing they were too cost inhibitive for a small farmer. And in WW1 there was a shortage of horses thanks to the war. |
|
|
|
Post by Montegriffo on Mar 4, 2023 18:36:48 GMT
Ah, found some photos of the Dexta in action. Good heavens, is that an old telehandler in the background there Monte? How old is it, and what make is it? Old! That was the newest bit of kit on the farm when it was bought about 5 years ago. Probably only about 30 years old. It's a Matador. Since replaced by a slightly more powerful one whose model I forget. |
|
|
|
Post by Montegriffo on Mar 4, 2023 18:48:28 GMT
Ah, found some photos of the Dexta in action. A break in the action while we wait for the belt to go back on the binder. It amazes me that the belts don't come off more often but it's actually very rare. Are you living in 1967? 1951. That's the age of the threshing drum and the Dexta is a similar age. We have to use the old kit because the farm is one of the few left growing old varieties of wheat for thatching and you can't use the combine harvester as it destroys the straw. Coincidentally, the combine is a 1967 Claas. It's not all old 1950s equipment around here you know. Very similar to this one.  |
|
|
|
Post by Red Rackham on Mar 4, 2023 18:53:48 GMT
My uncle & aunt bought a farm in 1960, their first tractor was a Little Grey Fergie and it was working all the time. It was the first motor vehicle I ever drove aged, nine or ten probably. They had other bigger tractors over the years but they kept that Little Grey Fergie until they retired. Aunty absolutely loved it.There is a whole market out there mate where collectors want to purchase and restore those little grey guys. Yes indeed so I believe. I watched a programme on the TV a while back were someone bought an old Fergie to do up and sell. It was a lovely little tractor, I think it may have Henry Cole, cant remember the programme offhand. |
|
|
|
Post by jonksy on Mar 4, 2023 18:56:46 GMT
There is a whole market out there mate where collectors want to purchase and restore those little grey guys. Yes indeed so I believe. I watched a programme on the TV a while back were someone bought an old Fergie to do up and sell. It was a lovely little tractor, I think it may have Henry Cole, cant remember the programme offhand. There is a company in Axemister just a stones throw away where I live who employ 6 others to replicate the large wheel arches and other body panels for fergies. They export their product all over the globe mate. |
|
