Ford & Fordson Magazine Ford & fordson Aug_Sept 13 Vorige editie

Welcome to another packed
issue of Ford & Fordson
Tractors but, as the sharpeyed
among you will have
noticed, with someone else at the wheel!
It’s at this point that I’d like to
acknowledge the hard work done by my
predecessor, Peter Love. I realise that I’m
going to have to be on top of my game to
maintain the standard set by him. Thanks
to his knowledge and work over the
years, he leaves the magazine in a strong
position, one on which I plan to build. So
thank you, Peter, and good luck with your
other ventures.
Apologies to those of you that
know me, but for those that don’t, this
‘welcome’ will give you an idea of my
life, prior to taking the hot seat at F&FT.
I joined the ranks of Tractor & Machinery
in 2007 and have spent almost two
years at the helm of Classic Massey &
Ferguson enthusiast, but my passion for
farm machinery goes back much further,
in fact, you could say that it’s in the
blood. Both sets of grandparents were
involved in farming the flat fields of the
Cambridgeshire fens and my father has
recently retired from more than 30 years
of work as an agricultural engineer. So,
as you can see, tractors have been a part
of my life from an early age.
Although my modest collection of
vintage and classic tractors contains
little befitting of this magazine, I have
fond memories of using Dagenham-built
models in my teenage years – with a
rather rusty Diesel Major and early Power
Major still managing to put a smile on my
face when I think about them. In fact, I’d
go so far as to say that it was turning a
furrow or two with the Power Major and
a Ransomes TS 55 that got me hooked on
ploughing (despite this, I’ve never been
any good at it)!
I should also explain a bit about the
photograph that graces this column,
as it sees me with another tractor
prolific in my childhood memories – a
pre-Force 4000 that was owned by a
local smallholder.