MIKE'S BUS PAGES

DOWN ON THE FARM

AN AGRICULTURAL MISCELLANY

 

TRACTORS,PLOUGHING ENGINES, STATIONARY ENGINES, PLOUGHING, HARVESTING EQUIPMENT

 

PAGE NOW UNDER DEVELOPMENT

 

 

As a child, from a very young age, I had an introduction to farm life having a number of holidays with a great aunt and uncle who were tenant farmers in Norfolk. These holidays were from the age of six until I was around twelve (when they retired) and were almost an annual event. I took part in egg gathering, wheat harvesting and enjoyed feeding cattle, geese, chickens, turkeys, and, oh, I nearly forgot, Claude, a massive porker who would somehow raise his great bulk and stand with his front legs on the half height gate of the sty and watch you menacingly.

Later on, when I started to go to rallies and fairs I could not help but find fascination in the agriculturally related exhibits and took many photographs some of which I have included here.

 

 

Well, it wasn't quite like this in the 1950s. A surprising number of these juggernauts (don't remember their technical description) have survived today and often put in appearances at rallies. They show that they were very labour intensive - you can count eight men working away at this demonstration. Motive power, driving the wheels, gogs, cutters and balers was some form of stationary engine, out of sight in this view. Ransomes comes to mind as the name of one manufacturer

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a start how about this selection of weird and wonderful tractors. I'm afraid I've mostly forgotten when and where I saw and photographed them and have no technical information to add as captions. If there are any tractor enthusiasts out there who can help with this please get in touch.