Alan.


Further to my previous reply I should have said that thechap who drove my tractor 70 years previously mainly drove our Wallis 12/20. I sold this tractor to Frank Smith who then sold it on but now I can't trace it, it's still about somewhere, it's number was 10861, a digit missing???, according to the 'buff' log book, it had Wallis cast on the block and Massey- Harris on the plate screwed on the radiator top tank. We did all the threshing with it for several years as we considered the 25/40 too big and expensive for driving the Drum, ( that's the Separator to our friends across the Pond!), the Wallis 12/20 I have now is identical except for the colour, it came via Malcolm from Vic Lauer of  Mt. Union, Iowa, a nice little tractor.
                                                                     Jack

                                                           

Here are the photographs from the 2014 Little Casterton weekend where Jack reunited his old driver with the 25/40.

Alan,

Further north in Lincolnshire than Jack we have slightly different sayings, when I was riding with my dad in the mid to late 60's ploughing in lands with ridge and furrows (or rig and furrows as he called it), he always called the irregular corners "garings" in our Salmonby language, now I wonder if he was meaning "gorings" with South Lincolnshire calling them "gores".
Of course these saying disappeared once reversible or (roll over) ploughs appeared, we had one man who would not use a reversible right up into the late 70's, he always ploughed round hand, one year from the outside of the field to the middle and the next year middle to outside, of course doing it that way there was never any garings to plough off.
All interesting food for thought, I bet our North American viewers are wondering what we are talking about !!! I look forward to hearing their views and sayings.

Malcolm.

Relative to irregularly shaped fields...  We had open drainage ditches cutting through the farm at an angle, which resulted in what we called "point rows".  As a young lad while cultivating I always started on the short point rows with the Ford Jubilee and two-row Ferguson 3-point rigid cultivator, while Dad started on the long. square rows with the 4-rwo front mount Massey-Harris cultivators on the Massey 44.  And we would work towards each other.

I still remember that day when Dad had to park the 44 and go off to do something else.  When I got finished with the point rows, I parked the Ford and hopped on the 44 to teach myself how to cultivate with it and the 4-row.  At that point, I was big stuff!

Fond memories indeed.

Intresting to hear the different names for the irregular parts of fields. Interesting John to know that you had a name for them as well  your side of the pond.

Thinking back in Hampshire the first time across the field when we were ploughing we called it Veering Out. I have never heard it called that anywhere else. In Norfolk it called the Split.

John that must have been a moment for you jumping onto the 44. I bet you hopeing that your Dad didn't come back until you got your "point rows " finished. We can all remember those times. Great stuff.

Alan

In my part of Lancashire we would have called them "cuttings" whatever their irregular shape and size once "paralell" was lost.
John

Alan Harris wrote: Jack,

That must have been a lovely moment when the old boy jumped back onto your tractor and ploughed again with it.

I was born and raised in Hampshire where I was taught to plough with a TE 20 and Fergy plough. We called the odd shaped bits and anything that wasn't right the way across the field "Short Work". I moved up to Norfolk thirty nine years ago and we call those bits up here"Scoots". It's interesting having these different names for things in different counties. It's something we should keep going but I expect in the end these old names will die out.

What do our American Friends call these odd bits in the corners or bends in fields ?

Alan

All.

Frank Kent who was the old driver of our Wallis 12/20 in the 1940's and who drove our 25/40 two years ago at Little Casterton has passed on. He was the last connection to my early teenage years and I have an abiding memory of him having run out of  matches while driving the 12/20, throwing out the clutch, jumping off and running round to the hot exhaust and lighting his '*****' from the hot elbow, he always wore a beret and it was touch and go whether the cigarette or his beret would catch light first!. This happened on many occasions!!.
   On another subject, can anyone tell me what the second number stamped below the engine number on my current 12/20 stands for?  the engine number is 104929 and 3818 is the number below it, even Malcolm isn't sure!
                                                                                                            Jack.

Sorry to hear of Frank passing on Jack, I am sure a lot of Massey Memories have now gone with him from the working days on your farm. Well done for getting him back on your 25/40 at Little Casterton in 2014, you certainly made his day after all those years.

You reminded me of my dad and his 12-20 stories when you mentioned Frank lighting his cigarette from the hot exhaust elbow whilst ploughing, apparently dad did just the same  as a young man so this must of been a "Massey driver's trick" of the time.

Malcolm.

I didn't know Frank but still sad to hear of his passing.

I think there are going to be so many of these old ways die out unfornutatly. Like lighting cigarettes off the hot exhaust pipe. I expect now you just press a button and your E cigarette just lights up.

Oh well

Alan

Thanks Alan
                     I expect that if he tried it today the Politically Correct Police would appear from nowhere and arrest him!!. Another incident he told me about , and I had almost forgotten about it, was when he was baling straw from the loose stack for sale and some straw blew onto the manifold and in  flash the tractor was alight, he grabbed a bucket full of water we had because the water pump leaked and needed  topping up, and threw it on the flames which put the fire out but not before it had burnt all the insulation off the plug leads and scorched the rear tyres, then a couple of tears ago I found the somewhat scorched magneto , just as he took it off the tractor, and it now stands on the shelf as a momento of the occasion!.

  All.
       Has anyone any suggestions as to the second lot of numbers on the block of my 12/20?
                           Jack.