Although the couple semi-retired to 1.6ha in Pokuru in 2008, Pulham joined the Otorohanga Vintage Machinery Club and does part-time contracting work. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always loved tractors and the associated machinery and have owned quite a few different types over the years. <\/p>\n
\u201cMy farms weren\u2019t the easiest, especially a swampy one which needed crawlers and tractors,\u201d Pulham said.<\/p>\n
He wanted something a little different to have as a collector\u2019s piece. <\/p>\n
In 2010, he found a 1972 County 1164 on TradeMe. <\/p>\n
Previously, it had been used in Invercargill by the Ministry of Works to build the hydro dams and roading.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was in used condition but still usable. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt needed a good tidy up, and I had the time and the inclination.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pulham can turn his hand to both the mechanical and the fabricating\/engineering side of restoration, but calls in local specialists for certain areas. <\/p>\n
He says the Otorohanga Vintage Machinery Club members have a vast amount of knowledge collectively, and they always know someone who has the part you need. <\/p>\n
Tractor wreckers also have parts available, but many parts can still be fabricated. <\/p>\n
Getting parts wasn\u2019t a problem.<\/p>\n
The County 1164 was made by County using both County and Ford parts. Photo \/ Catherine Fry<\/p>\n
The County 1164 was the result of a unique pairing of the County name, engineering and design using the gearbox and transmission from the Ford 5000 and the engine from the Ford 8000.<\/p>\n
The 1164 has a six-cylinder, 6580cc, 116hp engine and eight forward gears and two reverse. <\/p>\n
It was one of the first tractors to have a closed cab (which suited Pulham for tractor trekking). <\/p>\n
It is one of the first four-wheel drive tractors available and has equal sized tyres at the front and rear, and Pulham\u2019s one has dual rear wheels.<\/p>\n
Geoff has to remove a wheel from the rear dual wheels when he parks it in the shed. Photo \/ Catherine Fry<\/p>\n
The tyre arrangement offered better traction to the higher-horsepower tractors of that era. <\/p>\n
Pulham has to store his County with one of the rear outer wheels removed so it fits in the shed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese early four-wheel drive tractors had rear and front axles connected with universal joints and prop shafts, making them full-time four-wheel drive. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the diff lock is applied, all four wheels brake.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ford began to produce four-wheel drive tractors, competing with County for that market space.<\/p>\n
County<\/p>\n
Not a digital screen in sight. Photo \/ Catherine Fry<\/p>\n
County tractors first went into production in 1948, with the popular and distinctive four-wheeled units being manufactured later in 1961. <\/p>\n
These models were based on a Fordson Supermajor but badged as the Super Four. <\/p>\n
The four equal-sized wheels that many County tractors featured were designed to give outstanding traction for cultivation work, compared to conventional tractors. <\/p>\n
This design, however, had its drawbacks as the four equal-sized wheels meant that they lacked the ability to turn in a relatively small headland, making manoeuvrability, particularly on cultivation work, an issue. <\/p>\n
Over time, the market for smaller front wheel drives started to gain market share and although they were often still used in forestry and industrial-type operations.<\/p>\n
Now seen as vintage tractors, County are very popular as collectable units and often have a high value today.<\/p>\n
-Additional information from pocketfarmng.co.uk <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Although the couple semi-retired to 1.6ha in Pokuru in 2008, Pulham joined the Otorohanga Vintage Machinery Club and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":182425,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[115738,1558,138,33998,2986,3233,71,9178,115736,424,2190,111,139,69,57913,115740,115737,115739,61,29687,115741,27627,115735],"class_list":["post-182424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-115738","tag-been","tag-business","tag-collectors","tag-county","tag-farm","tag-from","tag-gem","tag-geoff","tag-life","tag-long","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-paddocks","tag-powerhouses","tag-pulhams","tag-swampy","tag-to","tag-tractor","tag-trek","tag-vintage","tag-workhorse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182424"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182424\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/182425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}