{"id":296938,"date":"2026-02-22T17:59:20","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T17:59:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/296938\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T17:59:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T17:59:20","slug":"sunlive-red-tractor-fans-rare-farmall-find","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/296938\/","title":{"rendered":"SunLive – Red tractor fan\u2019s rare Farmall find"},"content":{"rendered":"

Red tractors have always held a special place in the heart of Putaruru\u2019s Chris van Heuven.<\/p>\n

They take him back to childhood days spent on dairy farms in Matamata, Waitoa and, from the age of 8, T\u012brau.<\/p>\n

A builder by trade, Chris eventually found his way back to farming. Today he and his young family live on the 168\u2011hectare farm he contract milks for his parents, running 500 cows and sharing 50\/50 ownership of the land.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember my Opa always wearing an International cap when I was a child, and Dad always had International tractors too. I guess that\u2019s where the interest began,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\"The

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

Chris\u2019s first collector\u2019s tractor was a Farmall FC. 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, with four forward gears, one reverse and puts out a modest 25 horsepower. What caught Chris\u2019s eye, however, was its unusual configuration: a front-end loader paired with a grader blade mounted underneath.<\/p>\n

\"

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

Andrew Higgins, the previous owner, explains 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 says.<\/p>\n

\"The

\nThe Farmall FC is unusual in being fitted with a grader. 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. Andrew notes that the loader was originally designed for loading aircraft before he modified it for farming.<\/p>\n

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

The grader can lift, lower and swivel to change its angle, allowing it to function much like a small road grader. A third hydraulic linkage offers capacity for an additional attachment if needed.<\/p>\n

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

\"

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

\u201cIt\u2019s usable in its work clothes for now,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty original except for the seat and some front lights. The 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 Putaruru Christmas Parade, proudly towing the St Mary\u2019s Catholic School nativity float \u2013 an outing that delighted Chris and cemented the tractor\u2019s place in the community as well as his collection.<\/p>\n

\"

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

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Red tractors have always held a special place in the heart of Putaruru\u2019s Chris van Heuven. They take…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":296939,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-296938","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296938","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=296938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296938\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/296939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=296938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=296938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=296938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}