|
|
The tractor on display at the Marlborough Vintage Farm Machinery Museum
at Brayshaw Park in Blenheim, New Zealand was orignally purchased by Blenheim
agricultural contractors, the McCallum Brothers of Riverlands, a small
town near Blenheim. The tractor is now owned by the Marlborough Vintage
Farm Machinery Society who operates the museum. |
After restoration in 1988 |
order photo at
www.cfgphoto.com
|
McCallum Bros. Fitch pulling a Case mill in 1927.
Note the slanted hood.
Ron H. McCallum refueling the tractor in 1927. |
The tractor spent all its working life driving threshing mills and all
other farm equipment. Soon after purchasing the tractor, the McCallum Bros.
changed the radiator because the original became clogged up with chaff from
the grain husks after separating it from the seed. Since the new radiator
was taller than the original, the brothers fashioned a new hood to go from
the top of the radiator to the gas tank. As a result, the make-shift hood
appeared slanted. At some point early in its life, the Climax engine
gave out and was replaced by a Dorman engine. |
|
|
The tractor lay derelict during the World War II years and then passed
into the hands of a sawmiller who used it for a short time. He then
sold it to a collector Mr. I. Giltrap of Christchurch, NZ. Mr. Giltrap offered
the tractor to the Marlborough Vintage Farm Machinery Society in 1985. |
The tractor in 1976. |
|
Fitch tractor before restoration in 1985. |
The Society purchased the tractor in October 1985 and began to restore
it in 1986. Society members Ian LeGrice and Bob Thoms (whose late older brother
Harry operated the tractor when it was owned by the McCallum Bros.) had
completely restored the tractor by 1988. A new hood and panel was handmade
by Rob to fully enclose the sides of the engine and the gas tank. |
|
|
The tractor has had many modifications but is a good example of an early
Fitch Four Drive Tractor. The tractor is fully operation and is used on most
of the Society's Field Days at the Museum and at local tractor rallies. |
|
Donald and Grant McCallum, son and grandson of the original owner, stand
next to the former McCallum Bros. Fitch Four Drive Tractor at the
Christchurch, New Zealand tractor centennial rally in 1990. |
|
|
|
Fitch tractor on display at MVFM Museum. |
The museum houses the largest display of vintage farm machinery in the
Southern Hemisphere. Over 80 different tractors are on display including
a 1910 Blackstone, the only known one in existance in the world. |
Marlborough Vintage Farm Machinery Museum at Brayshaw Park, Blenheim, New
Zealand |
|
|
|
|
photos courtesy of Richard Robinson and Bob Thoms |
|
