Steve P

Had delivery today of a 1/16 britians big farm R/C New Holland and a trailer to go with it.. Not for me though, my sons birthday present who is 5 next week.. I wonder who will be playing with it the most, him or me???

Here are some pics of my County, its not perfect as it has a replacment cab though the original glass and roof was re-fitted and the motor is unsuprisingly seized or broken, still i am very happy with, i have wanted one of these for years.. 8)

My old TW-35 was a compete wreck when my brother gave it to me several years ago i have tidied her up a bit since, he told me that he remembers the motor worked from new for about 6 months before it went caput!! ..

the County is in pretty tidy condition and the replacement cab looks ok.

I am certianly addicted to collecting tractors now, i am sure a few more Countys will be added to my collection in the future...

Yes i think 1 1884 was built at Knighton by the Benson group and it had a super Q cab and i think it still survives today, was it not originally purchased by BT and painted yellow or am i thinking of another 1884?, all of the rest had the bubble cab, the Benson group also built a handful of 1184s in there red livery at Knighton plus several blue 974s..

I agree, it seems farmers and contractors will not buy a tractor no matter how good it is if it does not look like a tractor!, many machines have been produced that have not met this standard like Trantor , FC Countys even MB-tracs and JCB fastracs took a while to get approval as they looked a bit odd!.

I remember my father telling me that some people hated it when the first cabbed tractors became available because they looked different.

Thankyou all so much for your help..

Funny enough my brother told me the same thing, dont mess with it!!, you guys have now convinced me not to,  I think its one of lifes mysteries as to why britians never produced a blue County "and never will by the looks of it ahem!!".

Yep i have decided to keep the old girl as she is dressed in white.

I will certainly now go down the the scrap TW conversion route, if the axle and other bits are available it would make for a nice project during the upcoming dark winter nights.. .. Now on the search for a knackard ford TW-35.

Thanks agan for your advice..

I have fianlly bit the bullet and got myself a britains county 1884, i got it for a reasonable price i think less then 60 quid and it is in good order a nice looking model.

One problem of course is it is white and black not really the colour i would have chosen but hey beggers cant be choosers..

May i ask for some advice please about this model?

Firstly, i am thinking of converting the model into "proper" blue and grey colours, obviously i do not want to spoil the model and i have never attempted to re-paint one of my models before. I would think it is quite a difficult job as the whole model will have to be totally stripped down and the right colours would have to be used. Can someone please tell me what the correct colours and the best paint to buy so ill know if i go down this route??

Second, Is there any companys or perons that i could send my model to to have it professionally converted if there is how much do they charge?, i would like to go down this route if the price is right, if i do i would like a proper job done ie the correct bubble type cab roof, mirrors, side lights and the corrct decals as well as a professional paint job..

Fianlly, Should i bother at all and just leave the model how it is?, i have not purchased the model to re-sell, it will be proudly put on display with the rest of my collection, i never purchase models for there worth its simply if i like it i will get it and i have been a massive fan of Countys since i was a nipper i never purchased one before simply because the stupid prices they command..  Any help and advice would be fantastic.

Bidding was brisk on the 4 britains county 1884s on ebay tonight, most i have seen for a while.. i really want one but not for 70 quid!!..

Why Yellow and white??, did hey ever make proper blue ones??

SIKU cannot seem to make half decent New Hollands or Fords for that matter, though in my opinion there JDs and Deutz models look petty good and i have a few myself, That Britains T8 looks good and i will get one i think..

In SIKUs defence though i suppose it not a bad attempt from a company that makes hundreds of different models from "matchbox" police cars to huge cranes!!.

A few more..

I have a real soft spot for the Massey 500 series and plenty of childhood memorys as the farm my father worked on back then had 5 550s and 1 590!!. So seeeing this 575 recently was a real treat for me..

I was very impressed with this big Belarus 1507, a real monster..

Whatever happend to Trantor!!, my son called this tractor a "land rover tractor" ha ha!.. He is only 5 though correct in a way..

Oh wow a TW-15, sorry but i go weak at the knees in the presence of a TW!!!!!!.

I am currently looking for a old Britains New Holland TM for my model collection...

A rather battered Case Ih 885XL..

Finally for now i spotted this old loader recently, i have not a clue what it is, any ideas??...

Thankyou all..

Here are some more of my pics..

This old Holt crawler was a real beast, huge even by todays standards so heaven knows what people made of them when they first came out...

How about this David Brown 50D..

It was nice to see these 2 nice looking Marshalls at the Welland show.

I belive this impressive looking Marshall 100 was one of the last tractors produced by Marahall

I bet there are not many of these around these days in the UK at least??..

Judging by the condition inside the cab i think this old girl has had a hard life..

County, Muir Hill and Roadless was seperate companys to Ford.

There is a exellent book on this subject called Ford Tractor Converions by Stuart Gibbard published in 1995 and again in 2003. I think it is still available. Costs about 25 quid..

The book covers the history of County, Muir Hill, Doe as well as other less well know manufactures that mainly used Ford skid units for there machines, it is a facinating read and full of nice pics.

In answer to question 2, do you mean equal sized wheeled tractors?,

Equal sized wheeled tractors like County and Muir Hill had one big draw back over unequal sized four wheel drive tractors there turning circle! though they had fantastic traction qualitys they was about as nimble as an oil tanker!!.

Also improvements in four wheel drive transmissions and higher engine outputs today means equal sized wheels have no big advantges over un-equal sized wheels in terms of traction "though some County fans will argue this  "

JCB Fastracs have equal sized wheels apart from the top end range they launched recently. Articulated tractors like the american ones youj mentions have equal sized wheels but as they bend in the middle the big front wheels do not comprimise the machines ability to turn..

I would like to ask what is the most popular tractor make in your area??.

I live in cental Herefordshire and over the last 30 or so years i have noticed the rise and fall of tractor makes that i see going about there work. Back in the early 80s i remember Masseys was the top tractor around here, loads of 135s and 550s on the then many hop farms, David Browns and Leylands was also popular on the mixed or dairy farms, the arable farms usually had Fords or big Masseys.

As time went on obviously the DBs and Leylands vanished MB-tracs became popular with the arable farms but that was short lived, until then John Deeres was quite a rare sight around here.

Until i would say the mid 90s when John Deeres took over, the hop farms started to vanish the hop yards ripped up replaced by Potatoes or cereal crop and big John Deeres was used, Case IH tractors became the main smaller mixed farm favourite

This is how it stayed until recently, It seems the reign of the green and yellow beasts is coming to a end as over the last 12 months i have noticed a change.

It seems there are 2 new players in town!!. during this year i have seen more New Hollands and Fendts then John Deeres working, a couple of Valtras have also snook in, from my observations Case IH tractors have seemingly vanished and Masseys are still around but usually old 3000 or 6000 models.

This also seems to be the same for Combines, during this harvest the most common combine i have seen working is a New Holland apart from a few Masseys and 1 Case IH..

So thats it, it seems New Holland has replaced John Deere as the most popular tractors in Herefordshire, Fendts have also been selling well it seems, John Deere are still hanging on and it seems the loosers are Massey and Case IH..

Some more pics from the fantastic Welland show..

This old County 754 was tasked with keeping the steamers watered..

Gorgeous looking County dozer!!..

Staying on the County theme, i was delighted to find this Ford 8100 tucked away in a quiet corner!..

Roadless 115 looking smart.

This is one of them wow tractors!!, possibly this fantastic Roadless 105 looks better then it did when it left the factory..

A useful looking Ploughmaster..

Another top notch restoration, a Thomas Ninety Five-100, i think the first i have ever seen in the flesh!!..

Hi all, i would like to share with you some of my photos of the tractors i have seen recently..

I will start with some of the interesting tractors that was attending the Welland show last weekend..

I have a real soft spot for old Leylands, so it was nice to see this nice looking 285.

Something i dont see everyday a fantastic old Same Drago..

Suprising to see an original Fiat 850DT that has not rusted away!!.

Crying out for restoration is this lovely International 634 AWD..

I think it will take time and lots of cash to get this poor Ford 4100 back to its former glory!!..

Thankyou all for your help..

I am glad i purchased the model now, i have had a closer look at the cab and it has been painted though it has been done very well and it fits very nicely onto the tractor.

I agree CMB, them old plastic cabs are not very sturdy, one only has to look at one a bit hard and they shatter!! . I have to say the metal cab on my TW gives the model a lot more weight and apart from the AWOL driver the rest of the model is in pretty good nick.

Today while attending the fantastic Welland show near Malvern, i spotted a old 1981 Ford TW-20 for sale for what i thought was a good price "15 quid in fact".. i purchased the un-boxed and slightly worn model, well i just had to!!. I was suprised that the cab is metal though, is this a replacement cab or original??.

If it is a replacement then it looks pretty good and i am pleased with it, though i wonder if britains ever made metal cabs??..

Here is a pic of the model, have a purchased a dud or can i sleep easy tonight.. ha ha!..

Thankyou all for your replies, its a fantastic help. One other thing i have a knackard thin wheel and a fat wheeled Ford 5610 model, is the cab, bonnet and other parts interchangable??, also i am thinking about converting one into a Ford 7910, 8210 or TW15  i think the fat wheeled one would look the best what do you guys think??..

Thankyou James, yea it is a red one, i will get a pic of it tomorrow, it was just sitting there on the shelf in the trade stand! amougst some current Britains models i thought what the hell and purchased it.. .. I agree the clips on the duals look a bit fragile. Though it is in 1/35 scale it does not look out of place with my 1/32 scale collection.. 

As usual a exellent read, yep i enjoyed the Schulter ariticle as well as i love them big german classics, also like the trade stand bit, them old photos just oozed nostalga and how about them big White and Allis Chalmers beasts..

Brilliant mag...

At a vintage show a few weeks ago i spotted a boxed 1/32 Joal Valmet 8400 on duals for sale for just over a tenner!, i just could not leave the trade stand without purchasing the model, the box looked a bit rough around the edges but the model is in perfect as new condition.

I was suprised though that while it clearly states 1/32 on the box it is stamped 1/35 on the bottom of the actual model!.

Do Joal still make this model if not when was they in production? why the difference in scales in regards to the box and model? and was i ripped of with the price i paid?.

I am quite pleased with the model though as the detail is quite good and the dual wheels are removeable..

I have recently been told of a company that supplies replica parts for old Britains models.

I have looked on the Twose website and all the parts i need to repair some of my damaged models are available at what looks like quite reasonable prices.

Before i go ahead and order the bits i need i have a few questions that i hope some of you may answer. First of all do the parts like cabs, bonnets and floorpans come ready to fit?, are they painted in the correct colours or will i have to paint them myself? also in regards to the tranfers are they wet applied "like the airfix models" or simply cut to shape and glued on? finally i presume the parts are of good quality and will not need much trimming to fit..

If someone can find time to answer my questions i will be most gratefull..

Thanks..

Thanks again Justin, just had a look at the website, the parts seem reasonable in price and it would be nice to get my old broken models back on display again, it was not long ago i was thinking about binning them!!..

Fantastic rebuild there chap..

Looking at your TW restoration pics has given me some ideas, i have a few wrecked! old Britains models, 2 Ford 5610s!! a Deutz DX110 and a Massey 3680. One of the Fords and the Deutz only requires a replacement cab and a bit of a tidy up. As for the other 2 they are in a bit more of a state but not half as bad as your model was before you restored it.

Cheers for that..

Yes UH takes some beating, i have only recently started buying there models and they are impressive. i recently purchased  a 1/32 Ford 7810 and it litrally blew my mind, it really makes my old Britains 5610 look very basic. In fact i was so impressed with the 7810 i purchased a 1/32 MF 590 the very next day..