Torque Talk - Lake King powers up a tractor museum

IT has never been officially opened but it's done.

And if you're passing through Lake King, stop at the new tractor museum shed and learn a bit about the district while marvelling at the exploits of local farmers-turned-tractor manufacturers.

A product of the Lake King Progress Association - which contributed $18,000 mainly from community crop proceeds and a Lotterywest grant of $61,000 - it is one of those quirky realities that stemmed from a concept kicked around about nine years ago.

The idea of displaying and putting the tractors undercover initially came from local farmer Collin Penny, at a similar time retired farmers, Darcy Roberts and Trevor Mclean rescued one of the five unique tractors "Big Foot" from a farm in Esperance, and luckily there was enough interest then in the idea to push ahead.

"Before granting any funds, Lotteries West requested that we appoint a consultant and carry out an interpretational study to ascertain the worthiness of the project and the best way to present to the public," Collin said.

"Lyn Williamson did that work for us and it was her idea to incorporate road and shed signs, story boards and audio to bring the tractors to life.

"The clearing of new land and subsequent town development was also to be included.

"We then recruited Heritage and Culture consultant Michelle Slarke from Lake Grace to carry out that work."

Getting the tractors was no problem with local farmers keen to give their "old girls" a final resting home and so a "project team" was formed - Collin Penny, Murray McLean and locals Dick McLean (Murray's uncle), Vance Nicholls and Darcy Roberts.

The result is an outstanding effort that, in part, chronicles the history of the Lake King district which was settled in 1928 when land was cleared by axe-wielding pioneers employing faithful horses.

With exponential growth of agriculture, horses gave way to machines and as Michelle documents on one of the history boards, bigger farms meant bigger tractors.

She writes: "The Lake King farmers of the 1970s and 1980s needed powerful tractors to develop their farms.

"They could not find or afford what they needed so they designed and made their own.

"These tractors are unique, all made for the land conditions and farming methods of the area."

The tractor builders were locals Trevor De Landgrafft, Alan Hewson, Glen Hewson, Ron Hewson and Dick McLean. The tractor donors were Rowan and Rosemary Agnew, Trevor De Landgrafft, Dick Mclean and MJ and PA Nicholls.

As Michelle records, it all began with Glen Hewson and a grader:

"In 1971, Glen Hewson was using two-wheel drive tractors to farm land at Lake Camm.

He writes: "It was deep, sandy mallee country and I always had problems with bogging. It drove me mad."

Glen saw that the local road crew was using a four-wheel drive frontend loader and an idea came to him.

The next season he sowed his crop with an Aveling Austin four-wheel drive grader. The machine did the work of two tractors - but it was too cumbersome.

Glen then decided to make his own four-wheel drive tractor. He used what he had - the grader, and two Chamberlain 9G tractors.

He took them apart and re-assembled their best components into a machine that could pull three ploughs.

Alan Hewson recounts how he built "No 2" at Lake Camm in 1976:

"I decided to build a second tractor as two tractors would make our farming more efficient.

"It had taken me about two weeks to make the chassis for the first tractor.

"This time I used 12 inch channel iron instead of the RHS steel and it took about two hours to make the chassis.

"I just measured the length, cut out a knick (sic), picked up the iron in the frontend loader and bent it into shape.

"I welded it up and that was it."

Another tractor on display at the museum is called Big Bertha.

It develops 119kW (160hp) and took local farmer Ron Hewson six weeks to build. It was donated to the museum by the Nicholls family.

"Hank Deters helped to build the tractor on the farm and he christened it Big Bertha because it was big compared to any other tractor around," Ron is quoted as saying on the story in front of the tractor.

"I added power steering and modified the drive to the transfer case.

"The only special feature was that you could wind the windows down and that was the air-conditioning.

"There was no gear noise like ordinary tractors. You could listen to the radio just like driving a car."

(Alan Hewson invented and built other farm machines. In 1979 his Lakes Seed and Super Bin won the Australian Inventor's Award at the Orange Field days in NSW).

South east Newdegate farmer Trevor De Landgrafft showed the ingenuity of a typical "bush engineer" in building his Yella Fella.

He describes the making the machine: "I saw the Lake King farmers had used old Leyland Hippo trucks to build their tractors.

"I searched wrecking and timber yards and discovered a log skidder. It was burnt barely recognisable but it had the makings of a machine.

"At Condingup, I found an old Fiat truck with a turbo-charged Nissan motor and a Road Ranger gearbox.

"Punctures were a big problem. The forestry industry used steel reinforced logger tyres. Serious tyres like those cost serious money.

"I bought reject logger tyres and got rims made to fit.

"I needed something to transfer the power from the gearbox to the two differentials. I found an ex-Army Mack tank transporter with a drop box. We were able to marry it up.

"I found a Ford tractor cab for a bit more luxury. When I got it home I saw it would take up space where I accessed the gearbox.

"I made it so we could tilt the cab backwards and roll the gearbox back from the motor to work on it."

And Dick McLean also displayed equal ingenuity building his Timberjack tractor made from a Timberjack log skidder.

He cited two problems:

Problem 1: "I couldn't get a big capacity orbital steering valve."

Solution: "I geared it up with some cogs out of an old combine."

Problem 2: "The angle of the drive shaft was too steep and it would get hot. You had to grease it every hour and occasionally it caught alight."

Solution: "I lengthened the chassis so the angle of the drive shaft was halved."

A familiar exhibit is called "Arse End Charlie" which would be familiar to many farmers.

It comprises two Chamberlain 9G tractors each with Perkins 270D engines producing a combined power rating of 70kW (90hp).

With two engines and dual drives, these tandem tractors had greater traction with the obvious benefit of doubling the pulling power.

"Arse End Charlie" was built by Ludwig Djukic and Brian Nicholls in 1977 and later modified by Malcolm Nicholls.

TRACTORNOTE: One of the tractors missing from the museum is Glen Hewson's grader and the two Chamberlain 9G combination.

"It would be a most welcome inclusion should it turn up one day," Collin said.

Building careers

JOHN Deere dealership group Ag Implements is doing all it can to promote careers in agriculture.

And now with the Agricultural qualification AUR 30416 - Certificate III in Agricultural Mechanical Technology - up and running AgImplements human resources manager Ron King is keen to promote the company's intention to send its apprentices to Muresk for training.

The Certificate III course will be a Just-In-Time module with less emphasis on certificates and scholarships and more emphasis on developing specialised skills to be job-ready.

"We've got eight apprentices in our group and I envisage all our future apprentices will be going to Muresk," Ron said. "It is very important for this industry that we have properly qualified people who understand today's technologies and relate with farmers.

"There are plenty of jobs available in agriculture, not jusy mechanics, and we're advertising every week for mechanics, technicians and casual staff."

According to South Regional TAFE Bunbury director business development Chris Mayfield, who is overseeing the course's introduction throughout WA, the intention is to establish a world class training facility to cater for ag mechanical technology at a dedicated machinery training hub.

"That hub will be at Muresk and recognised as a Centre of Excellence with industry input into the curriculum," he said.

Torque applauds the efforts of the Farm Machinery Industry Association (FMIA) in playing a pivotal role in elevating ag training to meet industry standards and promoting career pathways in agriculture.

Hustler expands

NEW Zealand manufacturer Hustler Equipment, based in Hastings, has expanded its product offering since its acquisition of fellow NZ manufacturer Robertson Manufacturing.

Hustler's product line-up now includes silage wagons, Comby feed-out machines and tip trailers. Robertson's machines have always been complementary of Hustler's range with the two companies enjoying a 10 year history of working together.

Hustler Equipment has been designing and manufacturing farming equipment since 1961 and continues to lead the way in bale-feeding technology.

Hustler also has bale handlers and boom sprayers in its product arsenal.

For more information go to www.hustlerequipment.com