Vintage tractors

Catapillar tractor badge - yellow and rusty.

At the Shakey Super Pull

We had a great day, between rain showers, watching the very loud, very fast, very powerful and very smokey tractors competing in the BTPA points event — recommended fun day out for next year. During one of the breaks, I found a line of vintage tractors on display to the side of the beer tent and luckily had my wide angle lens handy for some close-up shots.

In the line were several Fordson’s, the ubiquitous and classic small tractor of my childhood but a Blue Fordson stood out amongst them as it had a bright red grill on the front. I was able to get a shot just after it had rained with the dark ominous clouds in the background which gives the Fordson tractor a gritty industrial backdrop. Next to that was a beautiful dark red late 1940’s, Field Marshall. Again quite a small tractor but this looked more powerful than the Fordson but it had not been restored to showroom condition and though clean was showing signs of wear and tear — which I prefer in a hard-working machine anyway. The last image is of a canary yellow Caterpillar tractor showing signs of rusty distress through its faded paintwork. These vintage tractors looked far removed from the monsters that were racing only a few yards away but they share a common ancestry so it was good to see them at the show.