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Growing up with five older brothers, all of whom used to mess around with old tractors, I finally decided I was going to join the fold and buy my own [...]

This old iron hobby of ours attracts many more men than women; I suppose this is because more men work, or have worked, with tractors and machinery, and they pass [...]

When thinking of the way farming has evolved, it's easy to assume that it all started with people tilling the land with hand-tools, and from those primitive methods we moved [...]

The iconic British-built Field Marshall tractors have a history that goes back to the 1840s when William Marshall bought an old engineering works in Gainsborough, England. Marshall named the site [...]

There are few places with more romance attached to them than Ireland. The Emerald Isle, as it is known, is a land of lush green rolling fields, wild rugged coastlines [...]

In my work as a 'rural heritage journalist' (a term which is rather 'Digging up' my work, as really all I do is go around chatting and listening to interesting [...]

Wil Hughes is a retired farmer, a ploughman and a collector of agricultural relics who lives on the Isle of Anglesey. The island consists of 276 square miles of mostly [...]

I'm one of those people who tends to think that life was better back in the days when things were simpler, but just sometimes I have to admit that modern [...]

Yorkshireman Malcolm Norris happens to own what is arguably one of the most striking-looking tractors ever to come out of the David Brown stable, namely a David Brown 'Thresherman.' The [...]

In the children's book The Wind in The Willows, one character says to another, 'Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing--absolutely nothing--half so much worth doing as simply messing [...]

North Wales-based trucker and mechanic Peter Owen has come to realise that an awful lot of vintage tractors simply don't run properly. 'So many collectable tractors just get driven onto [...]

For hundreds of years, settlers have been arriving on your shores. Many came from Britain, having made the perilous ocean crossing in the hope of a better future. A large [...]

In a small country like the U.K., we don't generally need to travel very far to amuse ourselves. Plenty of events take place through the summer and are easily reached [...]

I could write a book about Steve Watts' wonderful tractor collection, but today I've just come to look at one little grey tractor. From a distance it looks rather ordinary, [...]

Nestled between England and the Irish Sea, my home country of Wales is famous for its picturesque hills and heavy rainfall. We also have a long history of farming, including [...]

People often ask me how I ended up writing about old tractors. Like most things in life, it came about largely by accident. I've always enjoyed writing, but I didn't [...]

Herbert Austin was born a farmer's son in Buckinghamshire, England, in 1866. At 18, he went to Australia, where he worked for several engineering companies before gaining a position as [...]

This article, written by Josephine Roberts, explores her personal interest in old farm machinery, specifically tractors. Roberts discusses how her passion for welding and practical skills were influenced by her upbringing with five older brothers and a practical-minded mother. She also shares stories of her grandfather, a farmer and World War I veteran, and how his connection to the land and farming traditions inspired her love for old tractors. The article concludes with Roberts recounting her own experiences driving and maintaining tractors, highlighting the challenges and excitement they bring. The article features a personal anecdote about a father passing down his love for old tractors to his son. The accompanying photograph shows the son, Tegid, at the age of 13, sitting behind the wheel of his father's MF 35 tractor. The location of the event is North Wales, specifically in the Snowdonia region of Great Britain. The article can be found in the August/September 2024 issue of Farm Collector magazine. [Extracted from the article]

Most of Britain's hay is made into large bales, but we Brits still make plenty of the small rectangular bales. Perhaps you too remember the feel of baler twine cutting [...]

Well, it isn't over yet, but 2020 has been a strange old year. What with political tension and the coronavirus, there has never been a better time for hiding in [...]

The first tractor I remember lusting after was a rusty old Field Marshall. I was at a vintage rally (a show featuring all manner of old vehicles) with my father, [...]

I have several nephews, and it seems like no time since they were all running around covered in dirt, playing on imaginary motorbikes and pushing toy cars around as they [...]

Back when I was in my late 20s, I lived on the beautiful Lleyn Peninsula, a stretch of land in northwest Wales that reaches like an arm out into the [...]

Looking at my articles, readers might be mistaken in thinking that all of us who collect old tractors in Britain are scruffy beggars. This simply isn't true. It just happens [...]

Viewed from above, Britain's agricultural landscape is a rolling patchwork quilt of fields and meadows, most of which were first cleared and farmed hundreds, and in some cases, thousands of [...]

Crossley Bros. was launched in 1867 by brothers Francis and William J. Crossley. Both brothers had served separate engineering apprentices, and were looking to build their own businesses. With the [...]

So this is the situation. My partner has brainwashed our 10-year-old son Tegid into liking a certain make of tractor. I expect this is quite a regular occurrence amongst parents [...]

Wind back a century in time: World War I was coming to an end, and Britain was almost on its knees. My grandfather, William Roberts, wasn't in the best shape [...]

It will no longer be autumn, or as you call it fall, by the time you read this, but today as I write I am sitting at my kitchen table, [...]

Ben Hughes of Cheshire, England, works as a quantity surveyor for oil cargoes. In his free time, he tinkers with old tractors and attends vintage shows. Ben has been a [...]

Readers of previous Farm Collector articles might recall meeting my nephew. Damian Roberts is a stationary engine enthusiast and owner of two Lister stationary engines previously featured in Farm Collector. [...]

On July 6, 1946, the first Ferguson TE-20 tractor rolled off the assembly line at the Banner Lane factory, Coventry, England. It was a big day for Irishman Harry Ferguson, [...]

In the old days, the shepherd hut provided a temporary home for British shepherds as they cared for herds of grazing sheep. Usually made of wood, corrugated iron, or a [...]

I notice as I leaf through Farm Collector magazine that most of the tractors featured in these pages are beautifully restored to look just as they did on the day [...]

This hobby of 'old iron' (a phrase I've stolen from your good selves, I don't mind admitting) has led me down some interesting paths over the years. A hobby is [...]

Collecting and showing stationary engines is often seen as something of an old man's hobby, enjoyed by those who like the quiet life. We picture gents of a certain age [...]