ploughmaster

Ooooooooh!! That is very nice indeed, and a very early one too by the looks of it. Great find They produced these boxed sets of one of each of the figure in the range primarily for use as a shop display, and a sets were produced from 1957 until 1968 (there were 9 sets: 1957/58, 1959/60, 1961/62, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967 & 1968). There was also a smaller set of one of each of the new range when they were first made in 1955. Britains did similar sets for the Wildlife/Zoo animals from their introduction in 1960. From looking at the figures and animals present, I would say it is the 1957 full range. In 1958 a smaller set was issued containing the rabbits and goats and farm labourers which were new that year. It is certainly very very rare to find, particularly to still have its full complement of figures. I have only seen one of these sets (I can't remember which year it was; almost certainly a later one). It was at Donington Park toyfair in 1990, and at (I think!) £395 was too expensive for me at the time :'(.

It was how that make was sold through Claas dealers, so is a valid tractor for the purposes of this thread I think.

That looks a very fine model for the price Thet weren't terribly common in the UK. Rustons Engineering (Reco) imported a few in the early '80s. It was around the time that Massey Ferguson stopped the 1135 and 1155, and left their dealers without anything in that power bracket until the 2000 series came out (around 1983 ??). Lincolnshire MF dealer Peacock and Binnington offered Schluters in the interregnum, though I think they only sold a handful - their design was already getting dated at that point (live hydraulic controls in the cab, no air con, and the 50's style bonnet). I worked on a farm that had two unequal sized wheel 4WDs; a 160ps Super E 7800, and a 200ps Super E 9500 TVL (the export designations were different from the numbers used in Germany). Both had Schluter engines, which were the sweetest sounding engines I have come across - they simply purred under load, none of this raucous bark that so many tractors have nowadays. I know that Peacocks lent them an equal sized wheel 4WD when the 200ps one broke down once, which had a 250ps MAN engine. Peacocks subsequently sold the MAN engined one to another large farm, but the engine was a constant trouble and I think that particular tractor ended up being sent back to Germany.

or CR's even Some excellent pics there - nice to see the new JCB. The MF8160 seems to be on some very small diameter wheels, can't be too good for clearance for baling I would have thought?

I've lost count of the number of times I have come across people who get the two names confused (usually referring to a Ford 'Selectamatic' ). Both the Ford and david Brown clutchless gear systems were years ahead of their time, but neither was well enough designed to work as well as they should have. The widespread acceptance of clutchless gear systems for tractors was set back years as a result (In my own bigotted opinion anyway!!!! )

I think somebody must have got confused between the Ford 'Select-o-Speed' (or 'Jerk-a-matic' as many called it!) and the David Brown 'Selectamatic', which was something completely different (hydraulics, not gearbox!!):

The Massey Ferguson 2620 must be a candidate here - quite a big beast, but only 95 DIN hp. Which also brings to mind the MF 1200 which, although quite a powerful machine in its time was (in spite of its 'Big Artic' appearance) just 105 DIN hp.

I believe the additive tank is only on the US issue version and the European one won't have it.

Thanks all for the comments. The one all 7 are parked in was about 125 acres. The other fields they cut were much smaller - that one was the only field I had more than one 14 tonne trailer load out of; every time I got back from tipping, they'd moved to the next field There were two 44 tonne artics, three 14 tonne trailers, one 12 tonne trailer and two ten tonne trailers to keep them all moving, and two elevators side by side in the same shed at the yard, and tipping on a floor in the next shed. I do have a few, but they are all 'proper' photos, so will need scanning when I get a chance.

It's possible that could have been part of the reason, although the reaction probably wouldn't become apparent without contact for a few years. It certainly didn't prompt them to change from using the same material for the tractor tyres, elevator belts and excavator tracks which also reacted similarly with the plastic (polystyrene?) wheels etc with which they were in contact. Only the silver grey plastic wheels as fitted to the MF135 seem to be immune for some reason. It is a reaction that occurs on all most of the tractor wheels up to the transfer of manufacture to the Far East. I am not sure whether any subsequent tractors have shown signs of the same problem. There was certainly an issue with the Bamfords baler where the PVC/rubber bales, because they were not very slippery, would lodge in the bale chamber, and refuse to discharge. The plastic bales don't suffer this problem, and I believe that when researching his combines and balers book, David Pullen was given to understand that this was the principal reason for the change.

I am not sure how long these were produced for, but they had certainly been replaced by the plastic bales before the baler and multi level elevator moved from the 'sleeve & plinth' into 'straw' boxes in about 1971.

I think that was probably the intention all along

You will also see a huge amount of current Ertl/Britains being sold as well. Those that sell Britains find it goes very well indeed. We seem to have to re-iterate this point time and time again, and still some people won't get a grasp on it - UH, Wiking, Conversions are MODELS and are generally priced as such. Ertl/Britains make TOYS, and as such I don't see using common parts as a problem - re-using the base castings does not really detract from the toy. I think that is a bit harsh; there are ongoing issues (the hitch being one) which we hope will be rectified, but overall the accuracy and level of detail is excellent for a toy, and frankly some the 80's and 90's offerings from Britains were not that great (the 90's tractors based on the TW35 casting are probably the worst that Britains have ever made)

Explain please???

Neither do I (not that I would have room for them now!). When I started collecting seriously in the late eighties, nobody seemed very interested in the 70's and 80's sets; sellers were having to price them at less than the sum of the contents to get rid of them. I had several chances of various of the large single tractor sets with either Ford 6600, MF 595, Deutz DX110 or Fiat 880 for around £25 each. With hindsight, I should have bought them all! The two tractor sets were quite expensive, so I don't imagine there was a big market for them originally, so I doubt if they were produced in great numbers. Certainly rarely seen now.

Anyone got any of more in one UK field ??

I'll take your 5, and raise you another 2 http://www.farmtoysforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=27936.msg576210#msg576210

Peacocks demo Massey Ferguson 38 Massey Ferguson 40 Auto Level One of the Massey Ferguson 38's We might have had 8, but our other machine (22' Claas 228) spent most of its time on the other Lincs unit.

To follow on from the thread started by tractorman314 (http://www.farmtoysforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=27926.0), here's one I took when I was working for Sutton Estates, Stainton-le-Vale, Lincs in September 1997. They are: Claas Lexion 480 (25') (little challenge - spot the anomaly!) This was a demo which had spent most of harvest on a farm in Kent John Deere 2266 Hillmaster (20') & John Deere 2066 Hillmaster (20'), which belonged to Suttons Benham Estate in Berkshire and had been shipped up Lincolnshire as we were getting well behind (combination of bad weather, being underequipped and poor organisation). It was cheaper to transport them both ways than to hire one similar machine locally!!!! Massey Ferguson 38 (20'), which was Peacock and Binningtons' demonstrator and finally Staintons' own three: Massey Ferguson 40 Auto Level (20') 2x Massey Ferguson 38 (20') Claas Lexion 480 John Deere 2266 Hillmaster John Deere 2066 Hillmaster

ha ha! What exactly is a "fake ebayer" I wonder?

I don't think so as 145F only contained one tractor with 3 implements. 145F originally contained one E27N (either a rubber tyred 128F or a spade lug 127F), and a Trailer Plough (138F), Tipping Trailer (130F) and Disc Harrow (135F). From 1959 when the Power Major was introduced, 145F contained either a rubber tyred Power Major (172F), OR a spade lugged Power Major (171F), with a 3 Furrow Mounted Plough (173F), Tipping Trailer (130F), and Muledozer (174F). This set was then deleted in 1961 when the Super Major was issued. Your post has made me look at Andys' set again, however. Andys set is quite certainly set 146F. It is possible that it may have had the wrong tractors put in it at some point (this set should contain the 'Power Majors' with the external lights). As Andy pointed out that the original tractors they found in the set were played with, it is probable that they were not the original tractors in the set. It appears to be an early set from the implements point of view as the 146F with the DDNs should have the 3 Furrow Mounted Plough (173F) instead of the Trailer Plough (138F), and the Muledozer(174F) in place of the Disc Harrow (135F). As this set was deleted on the introduction of the Super Major (set 9597 with one Super Major in it replaced 146F during 1961), it could have had Super Majors in it at the end of its life, but they should have been with the later selection of implements. It also has 2 x H2055 Tractor Driver, who was not released until 1961, right at the end of production for set 146F, when according to the catalogues it should contain 2x tractor linkage attachments for the roller. The set posted by britainstoys.nl throws up another anomaly however, in that it has the Cultivator (175F) instead of the linkage attachments. This was never catalogued as part of that set, and was only introduced in 1960, thus making this a later version of the set. It is all very confusing

I did that for several years, but the colour variations kind of creep up on you when you are not looking, and before you know it, you have heaps of them :D

OOOOh, jealous of that :D Nice rare coloured Roller too! The 2x DDN set was basically a repackage of the previous E27N set issued under the same number. Yours could be an early one which still had the Trailer Plough (138F) and the Disc Harrow (135F) from the previous 2x E27N set.

That is a very nice set, especially as it contains the rare blue Muledozer which was only ever found in that set (although some Super Major 5000 sets had the normal orange one). The DDN set was a little different. The set pictured is 9595, the DDN set was numbered 9597 and the box colouring was different. The DDN set contained: Fordson Super Major (on Rubber Tyres) (9525), 3 Furrow Plough (9530), Roller (9533), Acrobat Rake (9537), Tipping Trailer (9550), Cultivator (9536), Muledozer (9535) in its usual orange colour, Tractor Driver (H2055), and the linkage attachment for the roller. There is a picture of both these sets at the back of 'Britains Fordson, Ford & New Holland Toy Tractors' by Peter Baron. Additionally, there was also a set which contained both the earlier DDN/Power Major's. Catalogue number 146F contained: Fordson Power Major on Rubber Tyres (172F), Fordson Major on Spade Lugs (171F), Timber Trailer (129F), Tipping Trailer (130F), Roller (136F), 3 Furrow Plough (173F), and Muledozer (174F) contained in a green lidded box. I have never seen the last one, have any of you?

I recall you mentioning them in a previous thread. The white ones are first known on a new lines list dated 1957, numbered 801 (from 1959 was changed to H1719). Before that, what had previously been the lead version (586) was shown in the full Britains catalogue as '586 Plastic Fencing' from 1955 to 1959. With the two overlapping, I have come to the conclusion that the brittle brown plastic version may have actually been the plastic 586.