Classic Massey Magazine Surveying the scene Back Issue

Last year, you may recall, I had intended to plough with our MF 793 at a local plough day – but I ended up taking the Ferguson 10HC-AE-A28 instead. Well, this time around, I didn’t even
contemplate taking anything else – the little Fergie two-furrow was always going to be the frontrunner. There was to be, however, a fly in the ointment that put paid to me participating.
Regular readers will recall the hydraulic log splitter that I revealed in the October 2012 issue – well, without going into the gory details, it claimed a victim the day before Ramsey Rural Museum’s Annual Plough & Country Fayre Day… the tip of my thumb! Needless to say, I couldn’t plough – to be honest, it’s a struggle typing this – so I attended solely as an observer. The weather was fantastic and although ploughing conditions weren’t perfect, they were pretty good considering the dry spell we’ve had. It appears that the prolonged period of rain we had in East Anglia during the middle of September was enough to keep soil conditions conducive for reasonable ploughing.
I was very jealous of the 45 ploughmen taking part, particularly as it was one of the best plough days in years, but that’s life! The glorious sunshine brought in the crowds and the number of trade stands appeared to be up too. A good day appeared to be had by all, boosting the museum’s coffers and hopefully encouraging newcomers to attend next year. Naturally, as it’s local to me, I will always pledge my support – but it really is a great event with a friendly atmosphere, so please mark 28 September, 2014 in your diaries as a ‘must attend’! Besides Leigh Granger’s wonderfullyoriginal
TE-F 20, the highlight for me was Roy Hales MF 35X (pictured above). When I enquired why it had yellow wheels when the rest of it was so original, Roy told me that it was once the power source
for a Standen self-propelled sugar beet harvester and, as such, required a certain amount of parts to turn it into a tractor.