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Ken Sanders\u2019 1970-era Muir-Hill 101 tractor is big, bright and beautiful \u2013 and it\u2019s heading into the city tomorrow to the Vintage Family Fun Day and Crank Up at Tauranga Racecourse.<\/p>\n
Hosted by Tauranga Vintage Machinery Club from 10am-4pm, event-goers can expect to enjoy hands-on country-flavoured activities and entertainment plus loads of farm tractors, equipment and stationary engine displays.<\/p>\n
Event highlights would include tractor parades, hayrides on the back of trailer pulled by a tractor, sledge rides, vintage bus rides, a special display of cars by the Shifters Hot Rod Club, a haymaking display, plus a separate free children\u2019s play area where they can play in hay and with water!<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also run a Tractor Train that pulls little barrel-made carriages \u2013 this is a favourite of the kids,\u201d said Tauranga Vintage Machinery Club chairman John Doull. \u201cWe know many young ones love tractos machinery so we want them to enjoy our passion for them as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
More townies! <\/p>\n
Club member Larry Williams said this is the second time they\u2019ve taken over the Tauranga Racecourse in Greerton to get more townies \u2013 young and old alike \u2013 to enjoy it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be a relaxed, fun-filled day of nostalgia, learning and hands-on experiences for all ages \u2013 so don\u2019t miss out on a chance to make some beautiful memories!\u201d<\/p>\n
To keep tummies full, a range food trucks and market stalls will also be on-site. \u201cWe want people to step back in time and enjoy a full day of old-fashioned fun for the whole family,\u201d Doull said.<\/p>\n
Sanders said he was excited to bring along his newly-renovated Muir-Hill, because he enjoyed meeting and making connections with people of all ages who take an interest in the machine.<\/p>\n
He purchased the tractor 20 years ago but only recently gave the old girl a good spruce up since he\u2019s retired and has more time on his hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bright yellow \u2013 which I\u2019ve re-painted her \u2013 is her true colour. She was what I call a Ministry of Works orange.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sanders had also repaired the dropbox and replaced the original gearbox. \u201cI just thought it would make a fun tractor, so why not?\u201d<\/p>\n
Now that the Muir-Hill was going properly and looking the part, Sanders wants to take it to more shows \u2013 like the Crank Up tomorrow. \u201cAt the shows, people talk me about what they know of the tractors and the little ones love to climb on and get behind the steering wheel.\u201d<\/p>\n
The connections <\/p>\n
Katikati man and long-time TVMC member John Brown also like the connections he makes, the mechanical knowledge he learns and the early New Zealand history he shares when he displays his stationary engines.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis engine here is a very early engine,\u201d said Brown, pointing towards a machine spitting and puffing as The Weekend Sun spoke to him recently at Katikati A&P Show.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was manufactured by the Associated Manufacturers Co in the USA. It originally came from Gisborne. I bought it off an old guy who told me his dad had it for sawing firewood.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brown had given it a clean-up, put a muffler on and sorted the fuel system. \u201cI\u2019ve kept it original, just how it was [when it was made] however, I have put wheels on it to make it easier to move around.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked what the engine would have been for in the early days, Brown said it would have powered any piece of equipment that needed electricity.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would be from the 1915-1920 period. Way back in those days there wasn\u2019t electricity everywhere. That\u2019s how all these engines came about. If you were on a farm and need to pump water, they\u2019d have used an engine like this as an electricity source.\u201d<\/p>\n
Annual fundraiser <\/p>\n
Doull said the Crank Up was the club\u2019s major annual fundraiser. \u201cIt\u2019s our opportunity once-a-year to raise money for the club \u2013 and all of our gear will be on display \u2013 both stationary and moving \u2013 and at the same time we\u2019re entertaining the crowd, so it\u2019s two-fold for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Vintage Family Fun Day and Crank Up is at Tauranga Racecourse tomorrow, March 7, from 10am-4pm. Entry is $10 per adult, and children aged under 10 gain free entry. \u201cPlus, one lucky event attendee will win a remote-controlled ride-on tractor to take home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Find out more on the Tauranga Vintage Machinery Club\u2019s Facebook page.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"-Sponsored content Ken Sanders\u2019 1970-era Muir-Hill 101 tractor is big, bright and beautiful \u2013 and it\u2019s heading into…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":318275,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[111,43,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-318274","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-new-zealand","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318274","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=318274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318274\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/318275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=318274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=318274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=318274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}