Tractor & Machinery Magazine Vol.20 No.7 Super Major • BUYING • OWNING Back Issue

Welcome to the May issue of T&M which, once again, has 196
packed pages for you to enjoy! I’d like to kick things off by thanking
those of you that have sent me kind words, wishing me luck – it
really does mean a lot to have your support. I’d also like to thank the
readers that have written in to tell us about their latest projects
– it’s nice that my pleas for you to write in haven’t fallen on
deaf ears. I only wish my wife took as much notice of me!
For those of you that endured my on-stage ramblings at
Tractor World, you’ll remember that I kept harping on about
it being a cliché to say that it’s your magazine – but we really
can’t do it without you, so thanks to those of you that have
already sent in your stories and for those that are thinking
about it, I urge you to put fi ngers to keyboard (or even pen
to paper) and share your treasured machinery with us.
If you need an incentive, fi nd out how Martin McAtamney’s
story about his Massey Ferguson 399 turned out in print
and see the result of an e-mail from a proud daughter,
about her father’s creations, in Model Corner.
On to one of my favourite subjects now... the weather. I never
cease to be amazed at how it can have such an effect on the
equipment used to undertake tasks on farms. The wet period
the UK has endured means that the land is still saturated in
places and preparing seedbeds is proving diffi cult. Some of
the farmers in the fens have, I noticed, altered their normal
practices to compensate for the unusual winter we have had.
The gentleman that farms the land to the rear of my house, for
example, has decided to return to what many consider a 1980s’
fad – Terra tyres. A fad, maybe, but watching him rolling with
a 30 year-old tractor on big tyres took me back to my youth!
Other farmers have resorted to using smaller, lighter tractors
(generally classics from the back of the shed, from what I can
see) to get the work done.