http://www.classictractormagazine.co.uk/

Classic Tractor Magazine, Sundial Magazines Ltd, Sundial House, 17 Wickham Road, Beckenham (2025)

26/04/2025

We have been contacted by a reader who needs help identifying this flail mower. The remains of the decals on the ends of the machine appear to show the letters TMALE.

Any thoughts on the manufacturer and model, etc?

24/04/2025

The last Friday of the month is here and that means one thing - a shiny new issue of CLASSIC TRACTOR, the UK and Ireland's best-selling tractor magazine, has gone on sale TODAY! Note: if you are a subscriber, you will already be several days ahead of the game.

And what an issue it is too. Where do we start? With the fleet of David Browns on the cover, perhaps, or maybe the dealer technician's check list of what to look for when buying a Ford/New Holland Series 40 tractor? Both great features in their own right. Then there's that majestic and tastefully customised Muir-Hill 121 Series II on what we call the magazine's front cover 'belly band'. What a tractor and what a transformation.

A little further down the cover there is a Landini Legend, one of several in this issue's Case Study on these sturdy Italian mid-rangers; a Versatile 1150, which was the only one to come over to the UK; and the very first production Track Marshall TM200.

We could go on, but that would be spoiling it! Check out the issue for yourselves at all good retailers.

31/03/2025

CLASSIC TRACTOR readers - we need your help! The Machinery Mishaps cupboard is almost bare and needs replenishing with your images of farm machinery clangers.

BUT please don't post them here. Ideally, please e-mail your mishap photos to: [email protected] or send them to us via a PM/Messenger.

Here is a selection of some of the mishaps that have appeared in past issues of CLASSIC TRACTOR. They don't have to be recent ones.

Thank you in advance!

28/03/2025

Heads-up! The last Friday of the month has arrived and so has the latest issue of CLASSIC TRACTOR, which is now available from stockists across the UK and Ireland.

And what an issue it is too. In fact, there's so much inside this 146-page magazine, it's hard to know where to start! How about with what is probably the world's finest example of a Ford 8100, fresh from a full rebuild by its farm manager owner.

Another tractor that has been through the workshop is the very first ever Fendt to be sold to a UK customer. You can read the amazing story of this tractor, a 1973 Fendt Farmer 104S, which just 18 months ago consisted of nothing more than a pile of bits, in this issue. We've even recreated the original photo shoot that took place just a week after this historic Fendt landed in the UK almost 52 years ago.

Other highlights of this packed issue include a 10,115-hour Terex T250 telehandler that's still on its original Michelin tyres, New Zealand's only County 1884, which has just been rebuilt by a UK service engineer, a fleet of high-hp classic/modern classic Deeres, and the results from a charity Dyno Day featuring some great older models.

If you are struggling to locate a copy, click on this link and it will help you to find a stockist that sells CLASSIC TRACTOR. Alternatively, scan the QR code that accompanies this post and it will take you to the same link.

https://frontline-group.co.uk/store-finder/

24/03/2025

Attention all past John Deere 4350 drivers!

As a follow-up to our recent Reader Rebuild article on a refurbished 4350, which also included a detailed explanation of how this uncommon 140hp model fitted into the company's range in the mid-1980s (CLASSIC TRACTOR April 2025 issue), we are now looking for some operator testimonials.

Please share your driving experiences of this short-lived model here, via Facebook Messenger or by e-mail at: [email protected]

If you can, please include where and when you drove a John Deere 4350.

12/03/2025

Breaking news!

ADR UK Tyremart, a subsidiary of the ADR Group, has acquired The British Rubber Company, the well-known retail and wholesale distributor of wheels and tyres.

Link in comments:

04/03/2025

AUCTION ALERT!
THIS SATURDAY – THE LOMAS DISTRIBUTION FLEET RENEWAL AUCTION.
Saturday 8th March 2025 – 9am.
www.malcolmharrison.co.uk

28/02/2025

Today is the day! The last Friday of the month has arrived and that's a cause for celebration. Not only is it pay day for many, but there's also a brand new issue of CLASSIC TRACTOR on sale in the shops.

No prizes for guessing what gets prominence in the latest issue - the Walmsley family's superb working fleet and collection of classic, modern classic and modern Massey Ferguson tractors, spanning everything from a 135 to an 8S.225.

Another of this issue's highlights is the Collingham family's fabulously overhauled 1987 John Deere 4350. You can learn about this tractor's refurbishment, one that has so far earned it two prizes, as well as the background to this rarely seen model and how it fitted into Deere's European range between 1985 and 1987.

For those who like something different, how about the UK's only eight-cylinder Schluter, an original import E9500 model owned by Suffolk Bunch member, Jonathan Tunmore. Join us as we bring you a report from its first field outing for over 20 years.

Of course, this is only just scratching the surface of what's inside the latest issue of CLASSIC TRACTOR, the UK and Ireland's best-selling tractor magazine by a country mile.

If you are struggling to find a print copy, try this handy link, which will provide you with the location of your nearest CLASSIC TRACTOR stockist.

https://frontline-group.co.uk/store-finder/

Alternatively, if you want to order a single copy and get it delivered to your door, then click the link below:

https://sundialmedia.escosubs.co.uk/store/products,288-april-2025_606.htm

24/02/2025

Farm Machinery Dispersal Auction – 8th March 2025 at 10am
Fairview Farmyard, Bird’s Drove, Surfleet, Spalding, PE11 4BE

The catalogue for the auction is now available:
https://www.willbarker.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Digital-Catalogue-Tidswell.pdf

Bidding is available in person and online via Bidspotter:
https://www.bidspotter.co.uk/en-gb/auction-catalogues/pygott-crone/catalogue-id-pygott10030

For any questions or more information, please contact Will Barker & Co on 01529 414 555 or [email protected]

18/02/2025

Farm Machinery Dispersal Auction – 1st March 2025 at 10am
Fen View Farm, North Kyme Fen, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, LN4 4DP

The catalogue for the auction is now available:
https://www.willbarker.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Digital-Catalogue-Tonge.pdf

Bidding is available in person and online via Bidspotter:
https://www.bidspotter.co.uk/en-gb/auction-catalogues/pygott-crone/catalogue-id-pygott10029

For any questions or more information, please contact Will Barker & Co on 01529 414 555 or [email protected]

06/02/2025

Anyone know what became of the 'Funky Gibbon', a modified and uprated MF 590 tractor puller which was run by Lincolnshire contractor, Messrs Gibbons & Sons of Sturton le Steeple, Notts, in the early 1980s. According to the slogan on the side of the bonnet, Funky Gibbon was 'Mean as a junkyard dog'. Love it!
What we do know, courtesy of ex-MF employee Jim Frost, who took this photo, is that MF's field test team was involved in uprating and modifying this tractor. Clearly it received an Opico turbo, Turbo II pre-cleaner and straight pipe, but what else was done to boost its power?
Does anyone remember seeing 'Funky Gibbon' on the tractor pulling circuit, perhaps at the Royal Show?
Also, is that the late Tom Osborne hanging off the weight transfer sledge?

Photo: Jim Frost.

04/02/2025

How about this? Not the Lone Ranger, but the Lawn Ranger! It might as well have been the Lone Ranger as we believe this badge-engineered Marshall ride-on lawn mower was a one-of-a-kind.

It can be seen here in the showroom/museum area of the Marshall Tractors' Scunthorpe works, circa late 1980s.

Does anyone recognise the design and maker of this ride-on machine? Also, what became of it afterwards? Does it still survive?

31/01/2025

Looks what's in the shops today! A brand new issue of CLASSIC TRACTOR. Because of Christmas publishing schedules it is six weeks since the last new one hit the shelves. Has the wait been worthwhile? We will let you decide once you've seen inside this issue.

So what awaits readers of the March 2025 issue? A bumper section on the John Deere 40 Series for a start, written by a former John Deere employee whose job it was to train the service managers on these tractors back in 1979. This is a man who knows his stuff when it comes to technical detail.

Then we've got the inspiring story of one of the late Bentley Vaughan's six-cylinder conversions of a David Brown 1400 Series tractor, one that has just been refurbished by a pair of mad keen young tractor enthusiasts from Kent.

The 1970s content continues with a review of what was new on the UK market in 1975, which as it turns out was a very busy year for tractor and machinery launches.

We could go on, but that would be spoiling the surprise! Dip into a copy yourself - you won't be disappointed with what you find.

28/01/2025

Taking you back to 24 November 2002 - the day that UK journalists and publications were issued with a press release informing them of the launch of a new range of Case-IH tractors, the Maxxum MXM. The six-models in the range spanned 124hp to 194hp, making this a massively important launch for Case-IH.

Unfortunately, the odds were stacked against the Maxxum MXM from the start. Why? Because it had the tough task of replacing the Maxxum MX Series, a purebred Case-IH product range with an excellent reputation and loyal fanbase. Many of those same Case-IH fans definitely did not like the fact that the 'common platform' Maxxum MXM was basically the New Holland TM Series dressed in another colour, with Case-IH styling and a Magnum-style controller in the cab.

As a result of Case-IH customers' indifference towards the Maxxum MXM and other warmed-over New Holland products, Case-IH's share of the UK market more than halved over the course of the next 2-3 years.

Which was best? Case-IH Maxxum MX135 or Case-IH Maxxum MXM130 or MXM140?

21/01/2025

CLASSIC TRACTOR is on the lookout for a farm machinery fleet to profile in the north of England/south of Scotland. Ideally something with a mix of classic, modern classic and a bit of modern.

If you fancy it, send us a message via Facebook or e-mail us on: [email protected]

Machinery fleets in other parts of the UK and also in Ireland will of course be considered as we continue to draw up our plans for 2025. Now is your chance to get your machinery line-up featured in CLASSIC TRACTOR!

17/01/2025

This is one of those snap shot photos that at first glance doesn't look that exciting, but actually contains quite a lot of interest.

This new two-wheel drive Renault 781 was photographed by Paul Brown, a recently-recruited employee of Renault UK importer, Renault Motoculture, in around 1979. The location was the company's premises at Pelfintax, near Doncaster. This former farmyard site was owned by Paul Field, who was responsible for introducing Renault tractors into the UK in 1976. Does anyone know if Paul is still around?

Then there is the front loader, a meaty Browns GB900 'Hi-Master' with a 5m lift height and 1.8t lift capacity. There is some serious metal in this loader.

If you have used a Browns GB900 loader in the past, or perhaps still own one now, please give us your thoughts on this model? Also, does anyone know when they were discontinued by the manufacturer?

Photo: Paul Brown.

15/01/2025

Now here is something you don't see every day - a platform/export version of the MF 3690, one that just invites comment. The story of MF's top end 3600 Series models began in 1988 with the MF 3680, powered by a 180hp Valmet 612 engine.

This was followed in 1991 by the MF 3670 (170hp, Valmet 620 engine) and the MF 3690 (190hp turbo Valmet 634 engine). In 1992, the Dynashift transmission was introduced, providing a total of 32 forward and reverse speeds, 24 of which were made on the move without clutching.

In June 1994, the MF 3690 was fitted with the Valmet 634DS engine (from serial no. C 146006), which featured improvements to the combustion, lubrication and cooling circuits. Production of 3600 Series tractors ceased with the introduction of the MF 8100 Series in 1995.

Has anyone ever encountered one of these platform MF 3690s on their overseas travels or visits to the Beauvais factory?

14/01/2025

When global sales of the Maxxum reached the 50,000 mark in November 1996, Case-IH produced 1000 anniversary models with special decals and chrome exhaust pipes, plus a single all-black version, which was sold to a contractor in Germany.

Quite a few of these 50,000th edition Maxxums came over to the UK, but how many remain? Any owners out there or recent sightings?

Classic Tractor Magazine