Massey Discussion Forums > Massey Talk > Family tractors remembered - gone but not forgoten
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RE:Family tractors remembered - gone but not forgoten

There are a couple of posts in between, but wanted to go back up to Bob's post.

Bob,

I really enjoyed reading your post, and it reminded me of the front mount 4-row cultivator we had on my dad's MH-44.  There are two open draining ditches that wind through the farm from Northeast to Southwest.  They create a lot of what we call "point rows".  When I was just a young lad, we would head to those fields, with Dad on the 44 with the 4-row, and me on the Ford Golden Jubilee with a Ferguson rigid two-row cultivator on the 3-pt hitch.  I would start on the short point rows, and Dad would start on the longer rows at the other side of the field.  We'd cultivate until we met somewhere in the middle.

I can still remember the day that Dad had parked the 44 to go to the house for something.  I was about finished with the point rows, and feeling quite *****y, I climbed on the 44 and did my first cultivating with that big 4-row outfit!!  Dad was pleased.  Great memories.

Miss your dad, too, Bob.

Thanks for joining the thread.

RE:Family tractors remembered - gone but not forgoten

Here is a pic of my Dad's MF 165 diesel.  It is in fact parked in my uncle's farm yard which was next door to ours.  It is seen with the crop sprayer mounted on it.  Also it can be seen that it is fitted with rowcrop narrow rear wheels - probably made by Standens.  This tractor seemed to spend most of its life hitched to the sprayer for use on acres and acres of barley, wheat, potatoes, cabbage and cauliflowers.  It was sold off at their retirement sale and I don't know where it is now.  The tractor was the first type of 165 over here and fitted with the Perkins A203 diesel.  Later ones had the slightly more powerful A212.

The double sliding doors to the right of the tractor are of interest.  In there my Gradad had an MH hammer mill for grinding barley for the livestock.  The doors would be opened and the MH 12-20 tractor parked at right angles to where the 165 is and a flat belt connected to the pulley to drive the mill.  Later the work was taken over by a Fordson Major E27N paraffin tractor.  A great sight and noise to hear the tractors working at constant load on the belt - different to them working in the field where the load, hence sound, varies with the load as the governor cuts in and out.

The other shots which I have dug out show me unloading the MF 780 Special combien which I have mentioned before under the M62 (now M60) motorway which crossed our farm.  The tractor hitched to the trailer is a Forsdson Major.

 Also another shot of Dad and uncle's retirement sale with one of the MF 35s in the foreground and the last combine we had - a Laverda  - in the background.  The final shot is from the seat of one of our MF 35s driving along the side of the Manchester Ship Canal towrds the high level bridge but on the opposite side to where I was unloading the combine.

John.
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RE:Family tractors remembered - gone but not forgoten

The M-H literature John referred to in a previous post with a picture of his Grandfather on the Massey Harris stand at a Show is one of several M-H monthly twenty page, six by nine inch magazines I have issued from Manchester UK, they have a wonderful tilte "Growth" and the front cover is printed to look like the bark on a tree trunk, there is an open window in the front cover and you see the colour photgraph of the combine from the first page. This one is August 1949,  the photograph was taken at The Royal Agricultural Show held at Shrewsbury.

On the same page also note the top left picture of the 744 tractor with a Roadless Halftrack conversion fitted, in the picture is Lionel Harper who was Managing Director at M-H Manchester, he regularly came to stay in Salmonby with my dad and his influence was the start of our families passion of all things Massey, he tried many times to persuade my dad to go and be a demonstrator of new machinery for them at Manchester, he always declined but often helped them locally in Lincolnshire with evaluating new machines. If ever they needed parts or any help it was very soon organised by Lionel and across to Lincolnshire.

Enjoy the Growth magazine.

Malcolm.
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RE:Family tractors remembered - gone but not forgoten

Malcolm,

Interesting that you mention the Lionel Harper connection with your Dad.  He was also a very regular visitor to my grandfather's house (only two miles or so from the MH plant) - my Dad often talked of him and what a genuinely good man he was.  Lionel Harper on several occasions also bought Tom Carroll to the farm when he was in the UK., Tom Carroll was always interested to learn of how fundamentally different our grain and hay crops were from N America - thicker, heavier and damper!  In fact as a result of him trialing an MH mower with my Grandad they had the knife speed increased for the British market.

John

RE:Family tractors remembered - gone but not forgoten

Here's the oldest item I have from the family "tractor" archives.  In fact it just about pre dates any MH tractors.

This is my great grandfather's retirement sale catalogue which we only found just a few years ago when we were clearing my uncle's effects.

As you can see he retired in 1919. The sale was in December - only a year after the end of the FIRST world war.

In the listing of equipment you can find a 12 tine cultivator by Massey Harris.  There is also a Monarch corn drill and I think these were made by MH too.

In those days MH operated from a warehouse in Bunhill Road, London before ever they moved their head quarters to Trafford Park, Manchester just about 3 miles from his farm.

John
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RE:Family tractors remembered - gone but not forgoten

Wow John!!!  What a piece of family history!!  And to tie directly back to your family is amazing!!


I would have to think this could be the oldest Massey Harris related item that has stayed in one family its entire life!!

This document would trump any tractor, implement or memorbilia that has stayed in one family that might be out there today.

Thanks for sharing!!


I do have to ask - What would the going rate be on DEAD Farming Stock??? Never have seen that offering either!!

RE:Family tractors remembered - gone but not forgoten

Gary,

"Dead" farming stock was a phrase commonly used in my youth but now you mention it has gone out of fashion.  As far as I am aware it simply meant everything that was not livestock and would include fodder and grain.

So MH stuff would definitely go in that category and command a premium!

John

RE:Family tractors remembered - gone but not forgoten

John,

Yes we don't hear the "deadstock" phrase used much today by auctioneers, but it certainly was well used in advertising of farm sales up to the 1950's, I have lots of old farm sales catalogues here which use the "deadstock" description for anything other than livestock sold at a farm sale, be it produce, crop or machinery.

I was looking through some literature last night and found this M-H 12 tine cultivator with or without seed box attachment in an 1895 British M-H catalogue, so presume this was the type of cultivator listed in your families sale catalogue.

Malcolm.
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