EasyEd

Hey All, Yes a really nice show - lots of variety. Seeing those Marshalls reminds me I was at an auction in central Alberta 20 odd years ago. There were some Marshall (the old dark green ones I don't know what models) pieces and parts like whole rear end chrome an engine etc. The prices were crazy crazy high and I remember wondering if there was gold underneath the paint. -Ed-

Hey All, I'll comment here. I'm in complete agree with a couple other posts. I'd really like to find a 50s 60s small square baler. New Holland preferred and if it had a Wisconsin engine on it that be even better. The other item I'd like is what I recall as a buckrake. Here is a pic. https://ogden_images.s3.amazonaws.com/www.farmcollector.com/images/2011/09/03141950/cb-buckrake-03.jpg Of course this one in the pic is older an more crude than what I am familiar with but the idea was the same. A 2 ton or so truck stripped to engine trans frame seat all reversed and steering reversed so it steers like a combine from the rear (was originally the front). On the buckrake end a loader was fitted with wood times (more than in the picture) as pictured and a sidetine so bales did not fall off. Then the buckrake scooped bales and delivered them to where they were hand stacked usually in the field and usually 14 to 16 tiers high. Ask me how I know 🤔 as I had a hand in that. Note that this was done in drier snow not rain country. If stacked properly you only had an inch or two top and bottom of a stack rot. Then it was fed in the same field. As a side note when I was younger grades 3 4 my grandfather payed me a half cent a bale to go all over 20 30 acre fields to turn every bale that came off the baler twine (he did not use wire) side down an turn it up so twine was not on the ground where mice or the buckrake could not break the twine. Of course I could not keep count an so it came down to haggling with my grandfather as to how many bales I had turned. It usually ended up me gettin a whole dollar - which was worth 20 boxes of candy if I spent it on that 👍. Great memories... Anyway is there any of this retro Equipment out there? I would think there would be a market given how many uh older collectors there are. -Ed- 🤔

Hey All, Not intending to be crude but I gotta say - the way the guy is standing it looks to me like he is taking a leak. Looks that way to me anyway. Nothing wrong with that adds realism I suppose. ☺️ Anyway a very enjoyable thread. -Ed-

Hey All, Well I have two incoming to match this book which is also incoming... -Ed-

Hey All, Wish I had something positive to contribute to this thread but I have no idea how far I would have to go to see a valmet/valtra here in north America. There was a dealership not far from where I lived in Alberta but it's gone. The dealerships seem to have disappeared. There is however it appears to me a slow steady infiltration of fendt dealers - nothing wrong with fendt. Grainnews had an article presenting fendt as the Cadillac brand as compared to Massey ferguson which would be the lower level budget brand. Would this be a deliberate Agco corporate strategy to gain market share for fendt since valmet/valtra apparently failed to do so? I found that interesting. There are maybe - just guessing - a couple hundred valmet/valtra for sale in north America and I'm sure there are more in use. What they do for parts/service I've no idea. Do other Agco dealers support valmet/valtra to at least supply parts? kind of a bummer since valmet valtra is a favorite of mine. -Ed-

Hey All, Very sorry to hear this... 18 is way way too young. I hope you and your family get through this ok. I don't know what else I can do from Canada but wish you well. RIP Aimee... -Ed-

Hey All, One of the best YouTube's I have ever seen. An excellent discussion covering many farm related topics. This is an hour plus that makes up for many YouTube's that at the end Im thinking there's goes another hour I'll never get back. I'd be very curious to hear your thoughts and experiences about some of these topics particularly from a non-American perspective. So many facets in here. Enjoy! -Ed-

Hey All, I took just want to compliment your work on these models. Really great! I was wondering though if you would be willing to comment on your photo techniques. You know gear lenses posing the models lighting etc. I remember a guy on flickr who did similar with small scale cars and in different kinds of light using bounce light umbrellas direct lighting and such his photos were so beautiful and real looking. I do some photography with Fuji gear and would like to try this. TIA! -Ed-

Hey All, Really neat equipment in that auction. What on earth is that Thames trader truck? Like what year, typical power, tranny? It is like nothing I've seen. -Ed-

Hey All, This has probably been asked before however I am curious... I'm looking for your top one only one favorite manufacturer/brand. Answers like I love all tractors or my top 3 are... is not what I'm looking for - pick one. For example, if you have 3 favorites pick one and then say the very close seconds are and list them. I'll start. My favorite is valmet/valtra. Close seconds are Versatile and Deutz-fahr. Why? Even though I am American/Canadian my heritage is Finnish and German and so I do look at brands from my family's (both sides) past as well as what I grew up with. In fact I mentioned in my introductory posts that I bought a new Holland for the research station I worked at but I almost bought a valmet. If the tractor were for me I would have bought the valmet but since it was for research and not owned by me I felt I had to buy something more mainstream and so the new Holland which is a good tractor. There are many features I really like about valtra as twin trac etc. Now over to all of you. -Ed-

Hey All, I'll add a bit about me... I grew up mostly in Montana. Grandparents on one side dryland wheat a few cattle a little bit of hay. The had a wide front Case LA late 50s I believe. A Minneapolis Moline row crop Z. An open station case combine - don't know what model. Other grandparents were registered shorthorns columbia sheep and hay and occasional oats. They used 2 8ns and an NAA. So all fords. New Holland haying equipment - sickle bar mower, side delivery rake new Holland baler with a Wisconsin engine on it. I had an uncle that did dryland wheat and chickens like 5000 loose in henhouses. I bet I have gathered more eggs washed more eggs candled more eggs packaged more eggs than most people ever see in their lives. He had Farmall m small JD - don't remember what model. I was mostly free child labor at all 3 places and so learned a lot. I had/have other relatives in farming ranching but these three were close by. My father was a truck(lorry) driver so I've a fondness for IH trucks - 4070s to be precise. He also had dump trucks. Later I did research using a 105? hp New Holland tractor that I bought for the research place - don't recall the model. Did propane flaming research with it. I also was tech advisor for farm planning which got me to know about mostly high HP articulated and not articulated tractors and modern combines - mostly grain farming. I had my own small group of shorthorns and did haying - sickle bar mower, side delivery rake IH baler that would rock a person to sleep - for a few years. Shoulda put this stuff up front in the first post. -Ed-

Hey All, Here are a couple phone snaps of what I have. Various scales for sure... First pic a 1:87, the one in the middle I found in some dirt - looks British. The one on the right just for fun. The truck is for my grandson when he is bigger. The second pic has 2 1:16 and a 1:32. Not much of a collection but I'll be adding to it. -Ed-

Hey All, This an awesome project. I'm following it with great interest. Keep up the great work. -Ed-

Hey All, First of all thank you for the replies. As I indicated right now I'm thinking build a train/agriculture display while collecting some 1:32 on the side after that we shall see. The one 1:32 model I have is a Ford 9030 bi-directional and I really like it and I think it displays well without tying up too much room. I've seen some really nice combines in 1:32 as well. I can certainly imagine a 1:32 diorama though I don't know about buildings an such. As for the train/agriculture display. First I appreciate all the commentary. I want to be sure everyone sees my thinking. I intend to have the train portion be an actual functioning HO scale train while the agriculture portion is like a stationary diorama. For the train people here it will have dcc sound an all. It is not to be a run around (like a circle) track but a switching yard combined with a short runs of track. As I said a shelf layout 2ft by 5-8ft. Many railroad fans operate running trains on shelf units not in circles due to space/money limits. Switchyards are a common theme. Here is a short video of a switching operation. Note this shelf unit is something like 15in wide by not very long. Now expand the concept to train/agriculture diorama like I intend to do. The idea being more than diorama - something you can actually play on. I have thought to take the idea even further but I don't know how feasible it is. When I was a kid I used to race HO scale cars on a track. Why not DIY using cut reassembled track to actually have car/truck/tractor movement in addition to train movement? This idea is way off in the future and I don't know if it is feasible. I have no doubt many on this site would know more about doing this than I do. I don't want anyone thinking dioramas are boring or passee - many are beautifully done better than I can do no doubt - I'm just thinking why not bring life to them. By no means is this idea unique to me. It occurred to me a few years ago when I visited this place in Hamburg Germany that featured moving trains cars an more. As for me I plan to loosely model a bit of the great sand hills railroad near leader Saskatchewan (grain/cattle country) based on this - to be further modified - track plan. Note it is 2ft by 7ft as shown. https://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k112/AmandaJeen/2x5number3.jpg I hope I have not bit off more than I can chew. Keep any comments/suggestions coming an thank you all. -Ed-

Hey All, I been thinking about doing some collecting and/or making a diorama for a few decades now that I think about it. Along the way I have picked up or been given half dozen tractors in different scales - 1:16 1:32 HO an a couple odd balls. So not much of a collection. About me - I'm dual US Canadian citizen. Raised mostly in Montana but have lived or worked all over the west coast and the prairies. Currently reside on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. My background is agriculture and natural resources. My interests are primarily farming ranching hay cereal crops generally dryland or irrigated 1950s or so to present including farm forestry. I was watching a toy auction yesterday an certainly suffered some sticker shock (prices) - $1100 Canadian for a 1:16 white 12 row corn planter needing some repair - my gawd. In spite of that decided yeah I'll do this but I do need to sharpen my pencil (know what I want an shop carefully) since I do have a couple other money pit hobbies. RightNow I'm going through the mental gyrations of trying to sort this out. What scale(s), what purpose, what models, etc. What I personally relate to based on experience or tractors an farm equipment that I've never seen or experienced in real life. For example I been thinking about a 2ft by 5-8ft shelf display with a working HO scale train switching yard elevators etc set in grain country on the prairies. Should it be 60s or modern? Can I even find suitable models in HO scale as any other scale would not look right. Anybody else combine trains an tractors? Just an example. As for collecting I really like the idea of 1:32 as in my mind I think 1:16 is really for playing with an takes up a lot of room. HO just seems too small and lacks detail. Any opinions? I look forward to being a part of this forum. -Ed-