Decade of Evolution: the Story of the Ford Series 10 Tractors Part Two 1985-91, Stephen Richmond & Jonathan Whitlam. DVD approx 100 minutes. ISBN 978-1-908397-30-0. Available now from Old Pond at £16.95. Parts One and Two together: £31.95 (see the Old Pond website Offers Page).
Between 1981 and 1991 the Ford Motor Company produced one of its most successful tractor ranges ever – the Series 10. The Tractor Barn film-makers have produced a pair of DVDs to celebrate this range.
In Part Two, presenter Stephen Richmond picks up the story in 1985 with the launch of the Force II range and all the developments that came with it. The Super Q cab took the range to new heights of modernity and operator comfort, and the range later expanded to take in the new 7810 model.
Stephen shows how the later Series 10 machines evolved until the 1989 launch of the Generation III models with more electronic monitoring and control. This was the final flowering of the range.
The film-makers use both recently filmed footage as well as specially selected archive films produced by the Ford Motor Company at the time.
The archive films include the launch of the Force II models, a look behind the scenes at the Ford tractor factories and a tour of the United States with the Ford Borehamwood Demonstration Team. A view of the workings of the ElectroLink electronic hydraulic controls on the 8210 III model brings the story up to the end of Series 10 tractor production in 1991.
In a special feature Stephen looks at the restoration of a Ford 7810 III and its continued use as a working machine.
For more DVDs by Tractor Barn, including their highly successful programme, The Story of the Ford 7000, see here.
Decade of Evolution: the Story of the Ford Series 10 Tractors Part One 1981-84, Stephen Richmond & Jonathan Whitlam. DVD approx 85 minutes. ISBN 978-1-908397-29-4. Available February from Old Pond at £16.95. Parts One and Two together: £31.95 (see the Old Pond website Offers Page).
Between 1981 and 1991 the Ford Motor Company produced one of its most successful tractor ranges ever – the Series 10. The Tractor Barn film-makers have produced a pair of DVDs to celebrate this range.
In Part One, presenter Stephen Richmond first sets the scene by looking at Ford tractor developments up to 1981 when the Series 10 was launched. He shows that the series embodied the company’s ideas up to that point as well as new features such as a synchromesh gearbox.
The bulk of the programme tells the story of the first Series 10 models as well as the later introduction of the flagship 8210 and other improvements up to 1984. The film-makers use recently filmed footage as well as specially selected archive films produced by the Ford Motor company at the time.
The archive films show factory shots of Series 10 development machines. You will see forage harvesting with the 7610 as well as a 7710 using a Ransomes push–pull plough during a Dutch ploughing marathon.
Archive footage showing the launch of the Series 10 compact tractors is yet another contribution to the story of this important tractor class. Finally, Stephen looks at the restoration of an early Ford 6610 tractor from rusty used condition back to as good as new.For more DVDs from Tractor Barn, including their highly successful programme The Story of the Ford 7000, see here.
The Farm Tractor Handbook, George Sherwood. Hardback book, 175mm x 122mm, 224 pages inc. 61 black and white photos and 58 line illustrations. ISBN: 978-1-908397-20-1. Now in stock at Old Pond at £14.95.
First published in 1918 to show the range of tractors working in Britain at that time, The Farm Tractor Handbook is now a collector’s item. This edition is a complete facsimile.
By 1918 the case for the agricultural tractor had been made and there were many companies producing a wide range of designs. Author George Sherwood’s aim was to help the farmer ‘choose out of the ever-growing number of different makes'.
He begins with some principles: the internal combustion engine; carburation, lubrication and cooling; ignition; transmission and steering. Throughout these chapters clear cut-away diagrams are supplemented by photographs of the tractors of the day.
George Sherwood gives practical information on starting and repairs. A chapter on horsepower and drawbar pull leads on to major sections on the different types of tractor and plough, and then to ploughing itself and belt work. Final chapters deal with steam ploughing - then coming to the end of its 60-year era - and converting a touring car into a tractor. According to the Rejax advetisement 'Many Fords are lying idle. Use them to increase the capacity of your limited labour and of your land'.
An Appendix lists the principal tractor makers and agents in the United Kingdom. There is a full index and there are also some fifty advertisements from the agricultural engineering companies of the time.
The book includes tractor designs which were short-lived and exist, if anywhere, as rarities, such as Martin’s Self-Contained Three-Furrow Motor Plough. At the other extreme, the Fordson makes its appearance.
This book can claim to have made a significant contribution to the body of knowledge which increased the acceptance of the farm tractor in the United Kingdom.
The second part of Chris Lockwood’s Beet Harvesters in Britain (see previous blog) will cover the period 1995-2012.
The focus is on advances such as having more axles to spread the massive weights involved, more rows and more technical monitoring. The programme will also cover the recent trend towards specialised ‘beet chasers’ in the field and specialised cleaner-loaders.
Here are stills of six examples.
Probably the most well-known six-row beet harvester in Britain today: the Vervaet 17-tonner.
It is believed there's currently only one 12-row harvester at work in the UK, which is this 2003 Agrifac Hexa.
A Gilles two-stage set-up, which is more popular on the continent and rarely seen in the UK.
The Vervaet Beet Eater 625 is another popular harvester.
The Ropa Euro-Tiger is one of the largest harvesters currently available on the UK market.
Emerging from the sea-mist, a Holmer Terra-Dos T3 harvester empties into a Holmer Terra-Transport beet transporter.
Old Pond Publishing expects to publish the two parts of this programme together in April.The DVDs include 75 machines from the following manufacturers: Agrifac, Armer Salmon, Catchpole, Cebeco, Edenhall, Garford, Gilles, Grimme, Holmer, Italo Svizzera, Kleine, Matrot, Moreau, Ransomes, Rational, Riecam, Ropa, Standen, Stoll, Thyregod, TIM, Vervaet and Vicon.
Chris claims that this will be ‘probably the most thorough programme on beet harvesters ever.’ Who could disagree?
Chris Lockwood, whose most recent DVD The Maize Silage Campaign is selling strongly, has now turned his attention to filming beet harvesters. He has collected some 75 examples, all working on farms; none of them are from working days.
Old Pond Publishing plans to release a set of two DVDs in April under the title Beet Harvesters in Britain. The photographs below show some of the models from the first programme which covers machines manufactured during the period 1960-1995.
A well-known classic of the '60s; the Standen Rapide single-row harvester. This one is being drawn by a Fordson Super Major.
Another popular machine, a Ransomes 33A single-row tanker working behind an MF 148.
The Standen Cyclone must be an icon of the British beet industry. This late example uses an IH 474 skid unit.
A 1990 French-built Moreau GR4 six-row harvester at work on a foggy day.
An early tanker design from Holland, this Vervaet & Heyens 12-tonner dates from 1993.
The ZA 215 EH from Cebeco was another successful Dutch tanker design.
You can browse thousands more farm tractor and machinery photographs on Chris Lockwood's website Mid Suffolk Agri Photos.
Farm Office Handbook, Institute of Agricultural Secretaries and Administrators. Paperback, 210mm x 160mm, 224 pages inc. approx 50 tables and 5 photos. ISBN: 978-1-908397-11-9. Now available from Old Pond Publishing at 19.95.
Farm Office Handbook is a practical reference source for anyone involved in farm administration, from someone tackling farm paperwork for the first time to experienced staff seeking to improve their skills. It has been produced through the collaborative efforts of a team of professional farm administrators.
Farm Office Handbook offers comprehensive guidance on:
- Farm office basics, from equipment to ‘Doing it Online’
- Setting up accounting systems
- Computerising a manual accounting system
- VAT and payroll for small rural businesses
- Year-end procedures complete with a useful checklist
- Management reporting and budgeting with useful templates
- Statutory and assurance records
- Useful websites for legislative updates and other important information
- Contacts and online resources for rural businesses.
Building on Michael Hosken’s long-standing and authoritative book, The Farm Office, this is a completely revised new edition.
Ford Transcontinental at Work, Patrick W Dyer. Hardback, 210 x 265 mm (landscape), 144 pages inc. 206 photos. ISBN 978-1-908397-10-2. Now available from Old Pond at £19.95.
The Transcontinental was an audacious attempt by Ford to challenge the best heavy truck producers in Europe. Developed by a dedicated team of designers, based in Essex, England, the truck was a masterpiece of proprietary component engineering. Engines from Cummins, gearboxes from Fuller, axles from Rockwell and an award-winning cab from Berliet all came together in a dynamic package, which shattered the performance test records of the industry magazines in 1975.
Always intended as a fleet machine, the big Ford instead gained the image of the ‘premium flagship’, often rated alongside established leaders such as the Scania 111 and Volvo F88. Heavily revised in 1978, the Mk 2 remained in production until 1983. Although the Transconti never made a profit for Ford, this big lorry which was magnificent to drive remains a memorable model, loved by truckers and truck enthusiasts alike.
To celebrate the Transconti, Patrick Dyer has gathered over 200 photographs to show the truck in its full glory over the years and in a variety of liveries and locations. Each photograph has an extensive caption. When read together these give the complete story of the introduction and development of the model.
There is extensive information on bodywork and engine specifications, the little differences that changed over time and the details which made the model so special to those who drove it. Photographs show the trucks at work abroad and there are shots of them on the production line. To set the Transconti in context, Patrick also considers the models which came before and after.
Patrick’s informative and friendly writing style gives the impression of sharing this story with a fellow enthusiast. The entertaining foreword is by George Bennett.
Patrick W Dyer is the author of two other books celebrating truck models, Scania at Work: LB110, 111, 140 & 141 and DAF at Work: 2800, 3300 & 3600. The second edition of his first book, Volvo F88 and F89, is due for release in May 2012.
Ron Creasey: last of the horselads, William Castle. Hardback, 234 x 156 mm, 228 pages inc. line illustrations and 20 pages photos. ISBN 978-1-906853-96-9. Now available from Old Pond Publishing at £19.95.
This is the story of East Yorkshireman Ron Creasey, one of the last farm horsemen to find work at a hiring fair in 1946. He was just seventeen.
During his years as a horselad, he lived in the traditional conditions, remained single and was paid just once a year. The Caley family for whom he worked expected high standards of farming and horsemanship and a great deal of hard graft. Ron loved the life, eventually rising to become Waggoner.
On the heavy clay of Holderness, horses were used for longer than in many other areas but it was only a matter of time before changing farming methods encroached upon Ron’s world.
Though horses became less and less important to the everyday workings of the modern farm, Ron continued to be involved with heavy horses throughout his life and retained a clear memory of his influential early days as a horselad.
During 2006 and 2007, not long before Ron Creasey’s death, William Castle recorded a long series of conversations with the horseman. This information provided a rich stream of knowledge and anecdote – all relating to horses and farming – that helped the author re-create traditional skills and practices.
Much of the book is a transcription of Ron Creasey’s words. William Castle draws on his own experience of working with horses to provide background and context. He explains the specific nature of horse work in the Holderness area, using diagrams to show the details of harness and gear in the region. He shows how waggons were loaded and he also gives a full glossary of terms.
William Castle writes for Heavy Horse World magazine.