Old Pond publishing days

Massey Ferguson implements filming has started

Following his successful DVD Massey Ferguson Classic Tractors George French has now started work on one or more DVDs showing the wide range of MF implements. As on the recent DVD Ford Tractors 1965-95, this is only being made possible by the preparation and work of Dennis and Maurice Burston and their fellow enthusiasts around Taunton, Somerset.

Last Saturday we filmed some cultivation implements on land kindly allowed to us by Ken Hallett. Among the implements we filmed were: (1) MF 1080 with MF 41 5-furrow plough; (2) MF 1100 with MF 10ft pigtail cultivator; (3) MF 1200 with MF 39 3-leaf spring cultivator; (4) MF 1100 with MF 37 with 35 11ft 4 ins flexible spring tines with a crumbler roller; (5) MF 1200 with MF 52 12ft discs; (6) MF 175 with MF 86 4-furrow plough. Finally, the lads enjoyed themselves ploughing together with MF 4, 5 and 6-furrow ploughs in sequence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Old Pond catalogues available

This autumn Old Pond has produced two catalogues.

The first is the usual annual catalogue, larger than ever and with news of even more books and DVDs for those interested in the land-based industries. You can see a copy online, download it or print pages on the Old Pond website here.

The second catalogue is a new one devoted to the books and DVDs produced by Roundoak and CP Productions. The majority are on lorries and trucking and they cover material as diverse as Australian road trains and UK Post Office service vehicles.

This catalogue is available here on the Old Pond website.

For trade enquiries or to have either catalogue sent by post, email [email protected].

A Year on an Arable Farm - DVD in stock

Old Pond has now received stock of Andrew Lyle's DVD A Year on an Arable Farm.

Donkeys, Dredgers, Ford Tractors - new book and DVDs in stock

Now in stock at Old Pond and available from the website are:

Know Your Donkeys, by Jack Byard, paperback £4.99

Massive Backhoe Dredgers by Steven Vale, DVD £17.95

Ford Tractors 1965-95 by George French and Dennis Burston, DVD £16.95.

Perhaps one of the best trucking books ever written

In the November issue of Truck & Driver magazine there's a five-star review of Ashley Coghill's book, The Long Haul Pioneers.

'We can't recommend it highly enough ... our book of the year ... perhaps one of the best trucking books ever written....'

Driver Roger Gool hasn't only read the book, he takes a copy on his travels. In the picture below, the book is checking in at the New Capital Hotel, Doha.

New David Kindred book on Harwich and Dovercourt in stock

Harwich and Dovercourt: the photographs of Alfred Smith by David Kindred and Peter Goodwin. This new softback book is now in stock at Old Pond Publishing at £12.95. Other books by David Kindred are to be found in Old Pond's photograph section.

Steelfab DVDs available

Next to our Old Pond stand at Spalding, Julian Carder was piloting three new DVDs, unseen sales films from the 1950s, '60s and '70s.

They show the products of Steelfab which originated in 1935 as Steel Fabrications of Birmingham and moved to Pengarn, Cardiff in 1946. They went into receivership in 1998. Among their products were the Shawnee Poole transporter and the Horndraulic.

The Shawnee Poole DVD includes 'Introducing the Shawnee Poole System', 'Shawnee Poole serviceability promotional film' and 'Shawnee Poole in earthmoving', plus extras. It runs for 81 minutes.

Agricultural Equipment includes 'Introducing the Superbale handling system', 'the Horndraulic loader', 'Steelfab 800 digger working on a farm' and 'the Steelfab 800 digger'. Approx 34 minutes.

Industrial Equipment: 'Introducing the Steelfab 160/180 backhoe loader', 'Power X materials handling sales video', Power X system launch at the factory'. Running time 72 minutes.

Prices are still being established. For more information contact Julian Carder: [email protected]

Rob White signing Starks' Harvesters at the Tractor 2010 October Show

Old Pond's stand at the Spalding model tractor show was enlivened today by the presence of Rob White, author of Starks' Harvesters.

Rob, on the right in the photograph, is about to sign a copy for the customer on the left. Front centre is Charlie Norman who accompanied Rob on his first custom cutting trip in 1979 and went on to harvest around the world. Charlie took the majority of the photographs in the book. Another fan of the late Dale Starks and MF combines, Kevin Clarke, is between Charlie and Rob.

DAF at Work and other new trucking titles in stock

Patrick W Dyer's new book DAF at Work: 2800, 3300 & 3600 is now in stock at Old Pond. Also in stock are the trucking DVDs from CP Productions and books from Roundoak.

The Best Job Ever - new County Tractors book advance information

The Best Job Ever, John Hull. Softback book 244 x 168 mm, 100 pages inc. 127 illustrations. ISBN 978-0-9567019-0-9. Now in stock at Old Pond at £9.95.

 Ford tractor conversion specialist County Commercial Cars of Fleet in Hampshire was at the peak of its powers when John Hull joined the company as a field test driver and tractor development engineer in 1967, having previously worked for a Fordson tractor dealership in Berkshire.

Promoted to chief tractor demonstrator in 1970, John travelled all over the world demonstrating the company’s four-wheel drive tractors. His autobiography not only provides a rare insight into what it was like to work for the world’s best-known manufacturer of Ford tractor conversions, but also charts the development and evolution of its machines over the 16-year period 1967-83.

The Best Job Ever contains many previously unseen archive photographs of County’s best-known tractors – from the four-wheel drive 754 and 1124 models of the late 1960s to the iconic 1884 flagship of the early 80s. There are also chapters on County’s innovative Forward Control tractors, used for a wide range of applications, plus its un-equal four-wheel drives, tractors for industrial applications, specialist vehicles, including the four-wheel drive Transit, and much more.

First published as a monthly series in Classic Tractor magazine, this substantially revised version of John’s memoirs contains a wealth of new stories and pictures. It is the first publication from Farm Power Publishing, the brainchild of Classic Tractor editor Rory Day.