Henry Brown’s Vintage Diary
Farmers Guide 25 Years Ago
9th February Warwickshire – Model Tractor, Plant and Construction Show at the Warwickshire Event Centre, Fosse Way, Leamington Spa CV31 1XN. www.modeltractorshow.co.uk
recalled that in 1985, due to poor sales, they were at risk of losing the Case IH franchise and were given one year to make themselves important again to Case. They did in no uncertain terms, with record sales of 360 tractors in next twelve months. In Farm Machinery News, Brian Bell noted that the latest rubber tracked Caterpillar Challenger 35 and 45 were available with five different track belt widths from 16–32in and the undercarriage was adjustable for row widths from 60–88in. Lely had entered the space age with the new Centronic Superbowl spreader which could be linked to the GPS system and vary application rates using yield maps produced at harvest time. Greenland introduced a new drill for use with power harrows suitable for any type of seed, from oilseed rape to beans. Prices in the February 1995 Yellow Pages included an offer of a four-year interest-free hire deal at £10,000 per year for a Case IH Axial Flow combine and a 1994 JCB, while a Fastrac 155-65 with 575 hours on the clock was advertised with a £42,000 price tag. A 1989 New Holland TF 42 17ft cut combine was for sale at £34,000 and Combine World offered a 1984 Claas Dominator with a 17ft cutter bar for £19,750. FG
Tom Canham Plant & Hose Ltd
22/23rd February Spring Tractor World Show & Classic Commercial Show at the Three Counties Showground, Malvern WR13 6NW. www.tractorworldshows.co.uk
The Trusty Steed Pedestrian-controlled Trusty garden tractors, now a common sight at many vintage ploughing matches, were made by Tractors (London) Ltd at Tottenham and later at Bentley Heath near Barnet. The first Trusty twowheelers were made in 1933, and by 1940 Tractors (London) were a major manufacturer of pedestrian-controlled garden tractors. Available implements included ploughs, cultivators, ridgers, hoes, mowers and trailers. Trusty tractors hit the headlines in 1948 when, in an attempt to increase food production, they were used to plough up the verge on both sides of the Barnet bypass. Some late 1940s and early 1950s Trusty tractors had a Villiers engine but most had a single cylinder side valve JAP engine, a centrifugal clutch and chain drive to both wheels. Lever-controlled dog clutches in both wheels were used for turning at the headland. A three forward and one reverse gearbox was added in 1951 but sales declined in favour of ride on tractors, especially the Ferguson TE 20. Trusty introduced the four wheel, ride-on Mk I Steed in 1948 – it was little more than a towing tractor with a twin cylinder JAP engine, centrifugal clutch and a one forward and reverse gearbox. The Mk II Steed replaced the earlier model in 1950. It had a front mounted Norton or JAP 14.5hp engine, multi-plate clutch, a three forward and one reverse gearbox and roller chain drive to the rear wheels. The specification included independent rear wheel brakes, power take-off and adjustable wheel widths from 28–44in for row crop work. Tractors (London) Ltd ceased trading in 1978 but it was not the end of the Steed as the Trusty Tractor Co. introduced a new 33.5hp 4wd Steed with a £12,900 price tag in 1955. Made in Czechoslovakia, the specification included hydraulic The Mk I Trusty Steed, so-called because “it linkage, hydrostatic steering, disc brakes and a safety cab. FG could be ridden like a horse”, cost £200 in 1948.
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Plans to build a new power station in Norfolk, fuelled by chicken manure, was the main topic on the Farmers Guide editorial page in February 1995. Once operational in 1997, the new power station was expected to provide sufficient electricity for 35,000 homes. Special features in the February Farmers Guide included one on Grain Handling, Drying and Storage and another dealt with All Terrain Vehicles. Eighty companies at the Grain 95 exhibition at Stoneleigh included Bedfordshire-based Brice Baker, who exhibited their portable batch and continuous flow models. Five sizes of batch dryer offered outputs from 78–271t/day while nine models of Brice Baker continuous driers had outputs of 9–20t/hr. Opico displayed a range of portable batch driers including a model that could be powered by a 40hp tractor and Law Dennis introduced their Agriflow continuous drier with an oil or gas burner. The ATV feature included Honda, Polaris, Suzuki and Kawasaki machines as well as a range of allied equipment including a Polaris headland sprayer with an electric pump, hand lance and twonozzle spray boom priced at £249. Framlingham Tractors in Suffolk celebrated 25 years of selling Case International tractors in East Anglia. Sales manager Graham Goodwin
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