Facebook sends a tractor around the world
Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.
It began routinely enough. Rural Property NSW advertised a clearing sale on our Facebook page early in December. The clearing sale was located south-west of Wee Waa, not far from the Pilliga forest.
Now we pride ourselves on a fairly wide reach with our social media, but we wouldn’t have predicted that a photo of a reconditioned Fordson Major tractor would take the eye of James Woolley - who lives in England.
As luck would have it, James has a business associate who lives relatively close to the clearing sale. Ian Smart usually spends half the year in the UK working the harvest season, and the other half at his home near Edgeroi NSW.
Ian ran his professional eye over the circa 1950’s Fordson and purchased it at the sale. Considering that the tractor was made in Dagenham, England; we asked him why James would be interested in one on the other side of the world? Surely he could find one a bit closer.
“They are hard to come by in England. Most old machinery has been melted for scrap and a Fordson Major in good condition is a rarity,” Ian said.
The tractor will be spruced up with a new set of turf tyres and then loaded into a shipping container with a windmill and a variety of old agricultural machinery collected by Ian and destined for the English garden ornament market.
“The most expensive part of the exercise is freighting the container from Edgeroi to Brisbane. That costs about AUD$2500 whereas the shipping from Brisbane to England is only US$700,” Ian explained.
The boat trip takes about 6 weeks and will be leaving Brisbane in April or May 2021. Ian is looking for a backload for the container if anyone wants to bring something back from England (we can pass on his contact details if you are interested).
We look forward to photos of the tractor in its new home in the English countryside – it will certainly be a long way from its previous home in the Pilliga!
Pic: Ian Smart with the Fordson Major tractor destined to return to England (Hilda and Horace the pigs photobombing).
by Michael Guest in Latest News
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