rorsday

Ouchie, that hurts. Still, quite an unusual brochure all the same. Persileric has some very nice MF industrial brochures on the Bay at the moment.

Marky They are very nice brochures, rare too, you have done well to find them. I have them in my collection and they are nice. Did you get that MF 825 brochure on the Bay? Regards R Day

Dear Ploughmaster Some will doubtless see it like that but I am certain Britains would not deliberately bring out a model that had a fault or was incorrect. I think something happened in the translation between the UK and Hong Kong/China. The prototype/pre-tooling version of the Ford 7000 had the lighter blue decals, but the production version arrived with dark blue bonnet decals, much to Britains frustration I would imagine. R Day

The tractors you have seen are the MkII (second run) versions of the Britains Ford 7000 with the correct lighter blue decal on the main bonnet. Not sure about the other quality-related issues, but the second version certainly adds another dimension for collectors. R Day

Dear All Thank you for your superb response. It seems that there isn't a problem at all with the distribution of the latest issue. Perhaps some of the local newsagents around here are not stocking it or better still have sold out already! Thanks again for your help. Regards Rory

Dear All, No, this is not a plug for our latest issue, more a slight concern that some newsagents might not have recieved the latest March 2008 issue of CLASSIC TRACTOR. Has anyone here purchased a copy of the March 2008 issue at the newagents, as opposed to receiving it on subscription? Your help is appreciated. Regards R Day Editor, Classic Tractor

No Marky, I have to confess you have got me on this one. I hold my hands up and say 'It's a fair cop, guv'. It is a nice brochure, I will make a mental note of adding it to the collection when I see one. R Day

Dear Tractorman810 and BBLQ092, Thank you as ever for your kind words. Most appreciated. I too had tractor overload yesterday: CT and T&M but also profi as well! Lots to read. Reference the piece on Wheatley Hall Road, we pushed the boat out on this one because I felt it was important to mark the plant's contribution to the UK tractor industry. I'm pleased with the outcome. Regards R Day Classic Tractor

There was some discussion about it at the time between UH and McCormick. The problem was that UH's McCormick CX105 had the low-profile cab roof while the last-ever CX 105 from Doncaster was a full-spec model. It would have been ready-made for a special edition if it wasn't for this. Someone did start selling a custom-built version on eBay although I never actually saw the real model; they used a scan of the tractor on the front cover of Classic Tractor to try to sell the model, which asking permission, so sadly I had to ask them to remove the picture, but not the listing. R Day

I just did a sad thing and counted my brochures and leaflets for the MF 200 Series. Approx 250 items on models from the 230 up to the 299, including the Brazilian, Libyran, Turkish, etc, etc variants. Various languages. R Day

Marky, I don't know John's eBay user name as he goes to a relatives to access the internet. He's only just found eBay in the past few weeks and suffice to say he's now like a pig in s**t surfing all the world's eBay sites for MF sales literature.....sound familiar? I used to be able to match John at one time but I had a lean spell from 2001-2003 and he overtook me good and proper. Plus he has the advantage of being able to focus on collecting fewer brands, whereas I'm into anything....and I do mean anything (even though I probably have more Ford and MF literature than any other brand, and have a soft spot for them). Like me, he doesn't really touch manuals, only brochures and Product Info manuals. By the way, you must buy a 'Global Corporation' by E P Neufield. Long since out of print but packed with worldwide MF info. You need to get an MF worldwide catalogue, too. Pricey, but excellent. I only have a couple, plus a couple of the more recent efforts. Regards Rory

Marky, Wish I could put a figure on how many MF leaflets I've got but gave up counting them a long time ago. Estimate 2500+ at a guess. Once you start collecting every MF leaflet for every country it kind of starts getting out of hand..... But mon ami, I hate to tell you this I don't have the biggest MF literature collection - that honour must go to John Sellers, a dairy farmer from near Bury in Lancs, who has been collecting since the 1970s and as a hobby since 1992. He must have 5000+ plus, including variants, etc. He's even into associated AGCO companies like Valtra, Landini, Challenger, Fendt, etc and he also does the whole world-wide thing. Even Perkins-powered machines tickle his whistle. You should go up there and have a look one day....after you've been to my spot. He attends Spalding and has now discovered eBay. He beats me hands-down on MF, but I beat him on general collection size across all brands. Regards Rory

Dear Marky, That is a very nice collection and neatly presented and filed. You have some great stuff. R Day

Marky I have these, they are nice, unusual variations, if a little drab! I hardly see either of them now but have had a few through my hands in the past. R Day

Marky, No, I don't have these. But then I do draw the line at compact tractors and lawn mowers. Skiddos is taking it too far. You worry me. R Day.

Marky That is a very nice brochure that I DON'T have. Want, want, as they say. R Day

Marky, I have this one. There was a whole set of them for all the various models, plus, I think the MF 155, etc. I don't have them all. I miss the days when all the different countries had their own literature - however, it certainly makes it easier to collect the stuff now that each of the European manufacturers distribute virtually the same brochures in each country, just in different languages. However, the States and Canada still have their own unique literature. R Day

Marky, Very nice. I have these and they are becoming more desirable by the day as interest in the MF 1150 continues to grow. Rory

Bluepower Thanks for clarification of where you purchased your magazine. I'm guessing that the distributors wanted to get the magazines out in the shops early before Xmas, but it doesn't the previous issue a lot of good, which effectively loses a week on sale. Thanks again. R Day

Dear BluePower Thanks for the kind words, most appreciated. Can you confirm that you picked up the latest issue from the newsagent as they aren't supposed to be in the shops, in theory, until next Friday. I'm guessing that because there will be little distribution activity next week they've probably thought sod it and sent them to the shops early. If this is the case then apologies to subscribers because you will also be getting your magazines today. Newsagents copies are supposed to be week later! Regards R Day Editor, Classic Tractor

The latest issue certainly contains some interesting material...and lots of it. The arrival of Peter Love has certainly added another dimension to the magazine, which now appears to offer a wider range of articles. Not sure about the market guide in the back and some of the tractor production dates for classics are way off the mark. This is perhaps a sign of inexperience on the part of the compiler, who lacks in-depth knowledge of the classic market, being more of a specialist in steam. Still no one is perfect and it is still a worthy effort. Still, an interesting package that, in its current format and size, must be considered good value for money. R Day

Thanks for your comments, keep them coming. It seems the clash of publication dates won't be such a problem after all. Marky, good thinking, but we definitely won't be moving our publication date....why should we? It has been set in stone since time began and we shouldn't have to move to accomodate others. R Day

Dear All Great comments, as ever, Many thanks. Now an important question for those of you who buy tractor magazines regularly. One of our competitors has brought forward its publication date by a week, so it now publishes on the same day as CT. This also means that subscribers of both publications could in theory recieve their copies on the same day in the post. How do you, as readers, feel about this? Will you buy both publications on the same day, or will you then buy one and then wait a week before buying the other one? Or will you decide to buy just the one magazine? Would appreciate your comments and feel as if I should be apologising for this unfortunate happening, which is beyond our control. R Day

Dear Tractorman810, Thanks for your comments, glad you liked the Collectors feature in the latest issue. Regards Rory

Dear BBLQ092, Thanks for your kind words. Glad you like this month's 'Collectors Corner'. Definitely something different for a change. Next month we'll be back on new releases with a round-up from Agritechnica in Germany. Heaps of new stuff there, as most FTF members already know. Regards R Day