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Dear Tractorman810, I am sorry to hear about your problems with pages stuck together. Please contact our subscription fulfilment company on 0870 442 1093, ask for David Thomas, tell him you have been in contact with me, and ask them to send another magazine out to you. Failing all that, just report the problem to them and I am sure they will send you a replacement copy. Hopefully it is an isolated fault. With regard to the suggestion of the re-introduction of a centre spread poster, we did used to do a dedicated centre spread picture for several years, but dropped the idea when finding suitable images that could stand up to being blown up to A3 size became difficult, this being before the days of good quality digital, which meant relying on non-too-reliable transparencies. The results were often iffy at best. We do our utmost to use a good quality picture on the centre spread, but I accept that this is not the answer for those who want a dedicated poster. Unfortunately, the quick answer is that I cannot see us bringing back the dedicated centre spread poster at the moment. Sorry guys. Regards Rory Day Editor, Classic Tractor

Puds Patience my friend, this is hopefully just a taste of more to come from the new SDF museum..... Glad the latest issue arrived with you. Rory

Pudding, Might I be so cheeky to suggest that you keep your subscription copy sealed in its plastic wrapper to prevent soiling/damage? R Day

Thank you IH684Lcabman, your comments are appreciated!

Dear Puds, Nice one, thanks, ditto Simon, much appreciated. Just finishing off the next one and hopefully it should be as good as the July issue. Regards Rory

Dear Puds Glad you finally got the mag and enjoying it by the sound of things. I often wonder if it would be an idea to send some boxing gloves with your subscription copy, to save you from self-harming? The thought of you getting your hands on that lovely pristine Muir-Hill 121 is frightening....the damage you could cause....! I have to say I was dead pleased when Steven Vale 'found' the wreckers yard in Spain with all its Ebro models., etc. I half-fancy doing something a little more in depth on Ebro, with all its Fordson and MF variants. They also came to the UK in the late 1970s, but unfortunately by then the tractors were looking pretty ugly and were more Ebro than MF/Fordson. I've seen pictures of the tractors that came to the UK, but never seen one in the flesh. Now that would be a good find. Keep reading! Rory

It sounds interesting and good value for money at £12.50 for 4 issues of 100 pages each. I do wonder if there's a danger that certain publishers are 'milking' the market for everything it's worth.....what next high street magazines on County, Same, Zetor, etc...?

Dear Marky, Very nice! I have this one. The MF 5200 was produced by Ward McConnell in the States for Massey Ferguson. Later tractors were painted in McConnell's yellow colour scheme. There are leaflets for these as well, although I don't think they sold many. Regards Rory

I'm sure Mick would be delighted to show people his diorama (he doesn't get many visitors). I will dig out his telephone number and post it up later. Give him a call! Rory

Dear Bluefan Glad you like the pictures...Mick's farm layout is indeed amazing. There is even more to it than whay you've seen, which I wasnt able to show in the overall views because the lens on my camera isn't wide enough. He also has a main farm residence out of shot on the left of the diorama and some more outlying fields to the right of the main picture. The scale is amazing. As for Mick being a member of FTF, he has a year to go until retirement (65) and isn't up to speed with computers and the internet. He does all his buying at toy fairs and shows, etc. It helps that his wife collectors dolls houses, so he picks up some good ideas and kit from dolls house fairs. Regards Rory

Dear big 10-4 This is a good idea and I will definitely give it some thought. It may be that we can roll three updated fleets into one story. Thanks for the interest. Regards R Day

Dear MDFord, Certainly. I have e-mailed a picture of it to Mr Ferguson just now (after I dusted it). Perhaps he will be good enough to post it up. Regards Rory.

Dear Mr Ferguson I am in the process of e-mailing them now. about 7-8 in all, pretty big pics, so will take a while to downloand. Good luck and thanks for helping a simpleton like me post some pics up on FTF. Regards Rory

Dear SPN I've never managed to fathom how to post pics, but if someone else wants to do it, I'll happily e-mail them the pics. There are several more of the layout. Rory

Bluefan To answer your question, practically all our articles are written by professional freelance journalists working on a commission basis. Although it is expensive, we get exactly what we want (most of the time) when we want it and with good pictures. There are some sections, such as Farm Favourites and some news stories which are sent in by readers, but not many. Professional journalists work to tight deadlines and need to generate the work on time to earn a living. Most of our regular writers come from an agricultural publishing background: Mick Roberts (Farmers Weekly/profi), Peter Hill (Farm Contractor/Big Farm Weekly), Andy Collings (Farmers Weekly), Steven Vale (Agricultural Machinery Journal), Julian Cooksley (Arable Farming), etc. I hope this answers your question. Regards Rory Day Editor, Classic Tractor

Thanks for all the great comments. Reference this month's 'Collectors Corner', I know we've covered Mick Cooper's model diorama before, but we had some good feedback the last time it appeared nd I thought there was enough there to warrant a revisit. Plus some of the improvements Mick has made are really good. I really enjoyed the visit to his collection and recommend it if you are in the Bishops Stortford area. Mick will always be pleased to take people around his diorama which must be one of the biggest around. Regards Rory Classic Tractor

Robbo, Rest assured it was as frustrating for me as it was for you. I had my bulk supply of copies delivered since last Wednesday, but for some reason the printers didn't send it out until after the bank holiday, hence the delay. As you rightly say, subs copies usually arrive at least 5 days before it's in the shops. Very annoying because the latest T&M actually arrived with subscribers before CT. I hope you all enjoy the issue. Regards Rory Classic Tractor

Marky, Hi, yes, a nice one, I think I have it, and there were loads more for the German market. Can't remember all the model numbers off the top of my head but I think there was an MF 1014 as well as the 1004. Lots of collecting possibilities in Germany, Holland, France, Belgium, Sweden, etc. It goes on and on..... R Day

Nashmach I believe the MF 550 article was in the previous issue, not the one that went out to subscribers this week and is in the shops today (along with Classic Tractor I hasten to add.....sorry guys if you have to buy both of them). R Day

Dear IH885Lcabman Thanks for the kind words, most appreciated. I was really pleased with the way the Comm. Edition 'special' turned out. All we need to do now is find out what happened to the Aston Martin DB car that was given away with the tractor. Have had a call from someone who knew the next owner of the cab, but it was sold in the late 1990s and has since gone to ground. Finding it would be the final part of the jigsaw....not essential, as it is after all a car, not a tractor, but just nice. Dear James T, Ref the Kidd story, fear not it is in the next issue, 5 pages, part 1 or a 2-part story. It came to me rather late and rather than rush things and compromise the story, I decided to hold it over until this month. Hopefully you will like it. Regards R Day Classic Tractor

Dear BBLQ092 (No.839), Yes, Peter Small was doing a report for us....I have the words here. What an amazing sale, wish I had had the opportunity to preview it, not that it would have made a lot of difference because the prices were already sky high. It will be in the next issue. Regards Rory

Dear BBLQ092 (No.839) The diorama belongs to Harold. There is a picture of him in T&M but I don't think it shows his set-up at the show. Harold is selling his diorama and is looking for around ?3500 I believe. Regards Rory

BBLQ092 (No.839), I don't think it is shown in the T&M magazine that arrived yesterday, but it is ?3500-ish if you want it. R Day

Dear Puds, Glad you got your copy, that was quick (it isn't even out in the shops until tomorrow!). The Fiat rebuild story was something else...always nice to see something different. Regards R Day

Dear Tractorman810 Glad you recieved your magazine (it was a little earlier than normal because of Easter) and even more pleased that you thought the content was OK. I was very pleased with the way this issue turned out. It could even be our best-ever effort and is certainly the biggest due to a good advertising uptake, both display and classified. Robbo - you're probably right about the number of members of FTF. In my defence this news piece was written back around Xmas time and for reasons of lack of space was held over for a couple of issues. Regards R Day Classic Tractor