Two upcoming sales of in the UK will be of interest to collectors and enthusiasts of rare vintage machinery with items that mark key points in the history of the tractor.
The first is the disposal of a collection put together by the late Richard Vernon, a Leicestershire enthusiast who assembled a large selection of tractors, steam engines and implements over 30 years.
Drum driven Grey
The collection includes a number of rare British and American vintage tractors, including The Grey 18-36, an unusual and valuable US-built tractor dating from the 1920s, which has an estimate of £20,000-30,000.
Other highlights include a 1925 Peterbro’; 1920 British Wallis; 1926 Rumely Oil Pull 15-25; an International Titan 10-20; Parret 12-25; Huber Light 4; and a 1920 Sawyer Massey 11-22.
These are offered alongside more common examples from the likes of Fordson, David Brown, Case and International. All of the tractors on offer date from before the 1960s and were sourced from around the world.
The four steam engines on offer are estimated to have a joint value of £300,000. These include a pair of Fowler BB1 ploughing engines, ‘Princess Caroline and Princess Jayne’, dating from 1918, which have an estimate of £120,000-140,000.
They are claimed to have spent their entire lives in Leicestershire.
There is also the 1884 Fowler SC ploughing engine ‘Aethelflaed’, owned by Richard Vernon since 2004 which has an estimate of £70,000-80,000, and a 1915 Fowler SC Class Colonial traction engine, which is expected to fetch £60,000-70,000.
The sale will take place on June 3, 2023 both online and on-site at Lutterworth, Leicestershire.
Rare vintage Cats
Although widely known as a manufacturer of construction equipment nowadays, Caterpillar has its roots in agricultural with the Holt Manufacturing Company producing crawler tractors over 120 years ago.
During those early years, they had terrific competition from the Best Manufacturing Company and the two finally merged in 1908.
However, C.L Best, son of the founder, was not satisfied by this arrangement and so he started his own company, which was then again merged with Holt’s in 1925 to form the Caterpillar Tractor Company.
There are number of vintage machines from this early period in Caterpillar’s history up for auction at Newark, Nottinghamshire, on May 20.
The lots include a Best Model 30 petrol-driven tractor manufactured in 1924. This was imported from California in the early 1980s to Wiltshire and arrived in Newark in 1988.
It is not quite in full working order but it is said to be only one of five known examples in the UK.
