robbo

This is something that I thought was highly unusual, picked up this morning at an antiques and collectors fair. A catalogue for Corgi models dated 08/59 and stamped on the front with a model shop in Bombay, d'Haveri Sports and Gifts. I have taken photos of a couple of the pages showing the tractors and it amused me to see that you could join the Corgi Model Club for 2 shillings and sixpence a year, (12 1/2 p) when you would receive a badge and the Corgi Model Club magazine. Edit: I have also just noticed that the MF65 on the front cover has the silver seat whereas the one on the inside pages has the rarer red seat

I seem to be getting really annoyed at the moment following on from our aborted house sale. On Saturday evening we had some of the grandchildren on a sleepover and they wanted a bath. Half way through running the bath, the water went cold so I was asked to have a look at the boiler. I opened the cupboard door to see water squirting everywhere and coming out of the sides of the boiler, not good! I called the local boiler engineers as we have a maintenance contract with them to be told that it was cream crackered and had boiled its last. As a result we now needed a new boiler which they cannot fit until Thursday, it is also going to cost me a pretty penny as well. As a result we have no heating and no hot water and then on Monday evening Mrs R was boiling the kettle to get some water for washing up when that also went POP. As a result I have had to go and buy a new kettle today, it never ends and it has left me wondering if I have run over a black cat or broken a mirror recently. If we didn't have bad luck then we wouldn't have any luck at all.

Not sure at the moment Sean, the sellers of the bungalow are in Spain on holiday until next week, we are hoping that they will wait but, that might not happen. On the plus side, Openreach have been working outside our address this week laying fibre cables to the house, just waiting for them to be connected after which I should have superfast speeds, (just in time for me to move away)

My house sale has fallen through as our buyers have pulled out grrrrr. We have practically boxed up the house ready for the move that was scheduled for 6th November, I have spent over a week boxing up my collection even though a couple of wing mirrors did not survive the process. I am not going to unbox them again in case we find another buyers but, at the very least, this is going to put us back several months. I would probably just cause more damage to some rather flimsy models with my cack handedness

Not sure if this annoyed me or amused me. I had an injection last week but after 24 hours my arm started to swell up to the extent that my right am looked like something fro Hellboy. Another trip back to the docs and antibiotics and it is starting to go down. Below are photos of my normal left arm and my right arm with bingo wings not the best photos but, have you ever tried to photograph your own elbow? Not as flexible as I used to be

4 hours, sheesh! Would be quicker for me from the UK, 30 minutes to Liverpool airport, 30 minute flight to Belfast International and then 20 mins in a hire car but, before you say it, that is without any luggage either way I have no doubt that I would have an armful to take back and it would be a bit of a stretch to pass it off as duty free

I have been reading an article on the current state of Zetor tractors which I have copied below, it does seem as thought the company are in dire financial straights and may well disappear from the market in the next few years, that will be a great shame as I have always had a soft spot for them as basic and rugged workhorses. The same author also suggests that Landini/McCormick may also be facing some difficulties of their own. Tractor manufacturer Zetor slows down production in Brno. He sold the land on which the halls are located to a development company and is now only renting them. The new owner will demolish most of the existing halls and build new ones, but they will house other production or warehouses. Zetor production is moving to India. The area on the eastern edge of Brno was promised for years for the production of tractors. Today, the red so typical of the Zetor brand shines only on the edge. Gradually, only two buildings will remain from the former extensive area. The rest will go to the ground. The development company CTP also bought the remaining plots for hundreds of millions of crowns. Zetor remains here only on rent. Zetor in trouble The company was loss-making for three years from 2018, only in 2021 did it report a profit. However, last year the company once again suffered a loss of around 103 million crowns. Company representatives attribute this to the effects of the covid-19 pandemic and Russian aggression in Ukraine – unstable supplies of materials and component prices, a decline in projects in Ukraine and a shrinking market in Russia. Due to economic difficulties, the company was laying off workers, 127 people left it last year alone, i.e. about a quarter of the employees. That is also why Zetor is selling land and some halls to a development company that is building a city business park in the eastern part of Brno. Other halls are awaiting demolition. "Zetor sold its real estate to CTP and at the same time signed a long-term 25-year rental contract with CTP under very favorable conditions. With this, among other things, the company completely got rid of bank and other loans," said the managing director of Zetor Tractors, Róbert Harman. Production in Brno will gradually cease. "The number of tractors produced is decreasing against the plan. There is talk of a shutdown in November and December. The hall where the gears are made is to be reduced," said union president Alois Kazelle. Now Zetor is concentrating its forces on the new market in India. "A large number of companies have been moving to India for many years," explained Sylva Žáková Talpová, vice-dean of the Faculty of Economics and Administration at Masaryk University in Brno.

Just packing up the display case ready for a house move so thought I would share these models from Yaxon and Polistil. Buffalo 130 with loader, Buffalo 130, Galaxy 170, Tiger 100 and Trident 130. As one or two are aware the only one missing from this lineup is the Buffalo with a blue plastic loader rather than a metal one, I have only seen one in photographs but in 20 years of collecting it has so far eluded me.

It was late at night and it was after a couple of glasses of red wine 🍷

The LCN have just announced that they have changed the date of the 2024 show to the 12th and 13th October

Standing in a field just outside Buxton in the Peak District

Hi Rich I cannot open that file format, are you able to upload an image please

From what I am hearing (from The Tractor Twitcher) that they only had 3700 people through the door over the two days, that compares to 10,000 for the weekend for November in Zwolle. That should be ringing alarm bells for them to look at the dates at least even if the venue is okay.

Damn, was hoping that it would go back to November

@GoodiestractorThe last time that I spoke to Andy he was saying the same thing that he was going to go just to make sure that he could retain the table for next year and did not want to lose his spot. It now seems that he might not be going to I don't know what will happen next year.

Hi Joe yes I have spoken to Marky but it does seem to be a much wider issue with several pages having been taken down for "breaching the rules". Quite how a load of tractor brochures can be in breach of FB rules when they allow all sorts of scammers to operate is beyond me

Does anyone know what the dickens is going on on Facebook recently? It appears that a number of tractor related pages have been taken down as "not complying with Facebook rules". Ones that I know about so far include The Massey Ferguson Historian, The Ford and Fordson pages and Zetorworld. There may well be others but it appears that somewhere, someone has got a downer on tractors.

I on the other hand Sean, have been in Northern Ireland again today. There is a tractor around every corner and on every stretch of road. I think that every single tractor in the province was out in the field today trying to get the crop in before it rains again. I can also assure you that the Irish like their blues, I think around half, if not more, of the tractors that I saw were a shade of blue.

I am also still waiting for the Dinosaur from Schuco so I take their announcements with a pinch of salt and I will believe it when it happens

The venue had to be changed as the old Ijsselhalle is being demolished for housing, I understand that the new venue was already booked for the dates in November but, looking towards 2024 they are looking to revert to the later dates. I am not going this year as I have 2 daughters getting married but I may consider it next year when the wallet has recovered a bit.

Been in Northern Ireland for a couple of days, today I was sat in a cafe in Moira watching loads of tractors going past, all colours were represented, well, apart from Same that is 😒

Been looking for one of these at the right price for quite a while and eventually found one, still need the Hurlimann version now though

Look a nice clean tractor Smithy, what model is it? Looks like an 07 series

Last ones

New tractor for Smithy?