News

FIAT CLUB DAY GOES WELL

Almost 100 vintage and classic Fiats gathered at the town of Wezuperbrug in the Netherlands, close to the German border, when members of the FiatCNH-Tractorclub took their classic tractors on a 40-mile road run, reports Erik Koolhof, who participated with his own 1973 Fiat 640.

The starting point for the road run was at the farm of Jan Klasen, whose yard is home to his large and impressive collection of Fiat farm equipment and cars, the latter being displayed three deep on shelving in the barn that houses his collection. The tractors attending the run included orange models and later terracotta-livery machines, mostly from the classic era, but also including a couple of more recent New Holland examples.

There were tractors of all sizes, ranging from a little Fiat 18 from the 1950s through to a flagship 180-90 of the 1980s/90s. Among the rare models taking part were a 1960s Fiat 415 fourwheel drive, a 1970s 500 Special, a 540DT and a 640DTH. One of the notable tractors in the Klasen collection is a Fiat 70C crawler that had been used by the Dutch civil service in land reclamation work at Ijsselmeer, the former Zuiderzee, creating new farmland in Eastern and Southern Flevoland. The run covered 40 miles of roads and tracks with a halfway stop for lunch at New Holland dealer Tijms in the town of Geesbrug Drenthe, before participants headed back to Jan Klasen’s farm, where there was ample opportunity to view the tractors before enjoying a good dinner.

PLAN FOR RARE VICTORY IS REVEALED

A rare British-built Lely Victory combine with a 14ft folding header is returning to work this summer with North Yorkshire farmer and classic combine enthusiast Jonathan Cooper, reports David Laley.

Lely Victory combines rarely come up for sale, yet remarkably this 1977 MkIII example had been on the market for almost 20 years, with little interest being shown until it was bought by Jonathan Cooper earlier this summer. The Victory model, built under license from Lely by FisherHumphries in Wiltshire, was powered by a 135hp Perkins 6.354 engine. This particular machine was bought new by contractors J. E. Clifford & Sons of Slingsby, North Yorkshire, as the replacement for a Ransomes Crusader.

Despite its quirks, the Victory became well-liked by the Cliffords and it remained in use until it was replaced by a three-year-old New Holland 8080 in 1988. It was barn stored for 10 years before being sold in 1988 to farmer, contractor and second-hand machinery dealer Craig Avison.

However, he soon acquired other classic-era combines, so the Victory was put back for up sale. It remained unsold for 20 years until Jonathan Cooper, based only 20 miles away at Potter Brompton, bought it to add to his growing fleet of classic combines. He already owned a Massey Ferguson 520 and had originally gone to Craig Avison’s yard to look at an MF 535 combine.

“When I saw the Lely, I thought it would be great to preserve it and put it back to work on my farm,” he explains. “The Perkins engine runs lovely, and other than needing some minor header repairs, it shouldn’t take much to have it working again.”

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Fendt in marathon

City of Derry YFC is celebrating its 60th anniversary with a 24-hour ploughing marathon with a difference on 10-11 September at Eglinton, writes Sandy Cox. The club set out to fi nd a 60-yearold tractor to use, but initially the only machines they could fi nd within their budget needed a lot of work. Then club president David Devine discovered a oneowner 1961 Fendt 1Z for sale in Germany. He snapped up the tractor and had it transported to Northern Ireland. Equipped with a two-furrow Ransomes TTS59 plough, it will work for 24 hours from 2pm on 10 September. Joining it for the fi nal two hours will be Gorthill Farm Contractors’ powerful modern Fendt Varios. They will be attempting to attempt to plough as much ground in that time as the 1Z does in 24 hours. The event is raising funds for the Northern Ireland Air Ambulance.

Events coming up

After over a year with almost no action, a number of autumn working events are being planned. The Field of Friends working day on 5 September, near Spilsby, Lincs, is aiming for an impressive line-up of high-horsepower tractors as well as vintage, classic and modern classics. Contact Gavin Motley: 07789 427756. The Blue Force Tractor Club has a working weekend on 11-12 September at Lilbourne, Warwickshire, on 120 acres of stubble. E-mail: simonmog406@ virginmedia.com or call Simon Perry on 07967 461021. Finally, the Bradworthy & District Ploughing Match at Coombe, Monkleigh, Devon, on 11 September has Deutz-Fahr, Same, Hurlimann and Lamborghini as its special theme. Contact Edward Brown on 07899 825511.

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Deere is big seller

Classic tractors made some very impressive results at Cheffi ns’ Vintage Machinery Sale in July, reports Sandy Cox. One of the biggest talking points was the sale of a 1993 John Deere 4755 for £40,500, this being a new UK record price for this model, and the also fi rst time that a John Deere had topped the bidding at one of Cheffi ns’ vintage auctions at Sutton. The tractor was in lovely ex-farm example and had clocked just 4193 hours. A number of restored classics also sold exceptionally them. A 1982 Ford TW-30 that had been subject of a recent full refurbishment made a record £35,000; a 1980 Muir-Hill 121, also refurbished to a high standard and with the benefi t of a recent engine rebuild, went for £32,000; and a 1982 IH 1255XL and 1985 IH 1455XL, both of which had been treated to nut-and-bolt restorations, made £30,500 apiece.

FORD IS HIT WITH FORAGER

A Ford 8240 SLE has just completed its first work outing in the hands of its new owner, reports David Winthrop. The fresh-looking Ford was given a good workout by its new owner, John Marston, a New Holland dealer salesman and blue tractor enthusiast from Carlisle in Cumbria, during a bout of second-cut silage making on the Little family’s farm at Rowelltown in Cumbria.

Working with John’s period New Holland 719 trailed forage harvester, the 8240 SLE roared up the fells of north Cumbria, emitting a magnificent sound from its six-cylinder turbo engine. Thanks to its retro-fitted TB turbo, the 6.6-litre Powerstar engine in John’s 8240SLE now produces an estimated 140hp at the flywheel and a healthy 125hp on the shaft, giving it easily enough poke to boss the New Holland 719 harvester.

The 8240, now with 14,500 hours on the clock, was originally supplied new by the Penrith branch of local dealer Lloyds. It had two previous owners before joining John’s collection of working classics in December 2020.

It was working alongside the host farm’s equally immaculate 18-year old New Holland FX40 self-propelled forager. Between them, the two harvesters successfully cleared 160 acres of silage in just over a day.

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COST OF GPS KIT THEFT HAS DOUBLED

While the cost of rural theft to the UK fell by 20 per cent in 2020, to an estimated £43.3mn, as Covid restrictions stemmed the movement of criminals in the countryside, there was only a small drop in the cost of agricultural vehicle thefts, writes Sandy Cox.

The latest annual Rural Crime Report from insurer NFU Mutual also highlights the rise in the theft of GPS equipment, the cost of which doubled to £2.9mn. Agricultural vehicle thefts, including tractors, totalled £9.1mn in 2020, down by two per cent. However, the fact that there was a reduction of 8 per cent in the number of claims indicates that the value of individual vehicles being stolen was actually higher.

Although the total value of quads and ATVs stolen fell in 2020 by 14 per cent to £2.5mn, a similar level to 2018, criminals appear to be targeting more expensive models. Thefts of side-by-side utility terrain vehicles of the Gator type rose to account for 14 per cent of all ATV and quad thefts compared to 11 per cent in 2019.

Over the past two years, NFU Mutual has invested over £850,000 in the fight against rural crime, including a police UK-wide agricultural vehicle crime tracking and recovery unit. The National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service co-ordinates farm machinery theft intelligence between NFU Mutual, police forces, Border Force and Interpol. In Scotland, NFU Mutual is a member and funder of the Scottish Partnership Against Rural Crime. In the current year a further £430,000 is being invested in carefully targeted rural security schemes.

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Sale of auctioneer

International machinery and plant auctioneer Euro Auctions, with headquarters at Dromore, Co. Tyrone, is to be sold in a £775mn deal to Canadian fi rm Ritchie Bros. The deal, which is expected to be fi nalised at the end of the year, will see Euro Auctions’ employees and brand name being retained. Euro Auctions was established in 1998 by Derek Keys and other members of the Keys family. It has grown into a business operating in 14 countries. In 2020 it sold goods worth a total of £484mn in 60 auctions at nine locations in the Britain, Northern Ireland, Germany, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, Australia and the USA. Members of the Euro Auctions management team, including Jonnie, Lynden and Trevor Keys, will continue to be involved for a minimum of three years.

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