{"id":284421,"date":"2026-02-14T22:09:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T22:09:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/284421\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T22:09:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T22:09:08","slug":"farmall-fc-tractor-find-putaruru-collectors-unusual-loader-grader-combo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/284421\/","title":{"rendered":"Farmall FC tractor find: Put\u0101ruru collector\u2019s unusual loader\u2011grader combo"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI guess that\u2019s where the interest began.\u201d<\/p>\n

Van Heuven\u2019s first collector\u2019s tractor was a Farmall FC. <\/p>\n

His most recent purchase \u2013another Farmall FC \u2013 joined the shed in June 2025, an acquisition he freely admits was an impulse buy.<\/p>\n

The tractor, built in France in 1953, runs a two\u2011litre, four\u2011cylinder petrol engine.<\/p>\n

It has four forward gears, one reverse and puts out a modest 25 horsepower. <\/p>\n

What caught Van Heuven\u2019s eye, however, was its unusual configuration: a front-end loader paired with a grader blade mounted underneath.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe 1953 Farmall FC viewed from the back \u2013 the seat is not original. Photo \/ Catherine Fry<\/p>\n

Andrew Higgins, the previous owner, explained how the machine came to be.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was bought as two tractors in the 1990s \u2013 one with the loader, one with the grader \u2013 and then combined into one using the best parts from each,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\" Chris van Heuven\u2019s Farmall FC has a Hamilton-built front loader. Photo \/ Catherine Fry<\/p>\n

The rebuilt tractor was used on a small farm primarily for topdressing, shovelling manure into spreader tractors, and occasional grading work. <\/p>\n

Higgins said the loader was originally designed for loading aircraft, before he modified it for farming.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Farmall FC is unusual in being fitted with a grader. Photo \/ Catherine Fry<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the 1950s, this would have been a pretty advanced tractor \u2013 able to handle a variety of jobs on-farm,\u201d Van Heuven added.<\/p>\n

The grader can lift, lower and swivel to change its angle, allowing it to function much like a small road grader. <\/p>\n

A third hydraulic linkage offers capacity for an additional attachment if needed.<\/p>\n

\" The gears and hydraulics of another era. Photo \/ Catherine Fry<\/p>\n

Van Heuven isn\u2019t rushing into a restoration.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s usable in its work clothes for now,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s pretty original except for the seat and some front lights. <\/p>\n

\" Another view of the hydraulics and gear controls. Photo \/ Catherine Fry<\/p>\n

\u201cThe starter motor has been upgraded to 12 volts because the old 6\u2011volt batteries were just too expensive.\u201d<\/p>\n

The FC made its first public appearance in the 2025 Put\u0101ruru Christmas Parade, proudly towing the St Mary\u2019s Catholic School nativity float.<\/p>\n

This outing delighted Van Heuven and cemented the tractor\u2019s place in the community, as well as his collection.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI guess that\u2019s where the interest began.\u201d Van Heuven\u2019s first collector\u2019s tractor was a Farmall FC. His most…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":284422,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[36671,138,3276,33998,158580,158577,26845,1866,305,2862,14236,158582,158579,111,139,69,6744,158578,158581,1962,29687,50421,22187],"class_list":["post-284421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-always","tag-business","tag-chris","tag-collectors","tag-combo","tag-farmall","tag-fc","tag-find","tag-have","tag-heart","tag-held","tag-heuven","tag-loadergrader","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-place","tag-putruru","tag-putrurus","tag-special","tag-tractor","tag-tractors","tag-unusual"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284421","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=284421"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284421\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}