Down on the Farm - Oxforddiecast

[john.wishart]

I've been thinking about how to display these as 'working'. In the case of the hay baler a flat trailer will be required to collect the bales, I was thinking perhaps of converting one of the Oxford Scammell trailers or using the Airfix/Dapol Scarab kit. Has anyone a method of making realistic hay bales? If I can obtain some plumber's hemp I am going to experiment with it by finely chopping it up and then mixing it with (dilute?) PVA and pressing it into the correct shape and size.

Hi, I remember spending many a happy? time in the late 60's being stood on a "sledge", that was a large piece of wood attached by a chain to the baler that was dragged round the field, we were able to stack bales on the sledge and when there were 12 on there I shoved them off, spent all the time in a cloud of chaff and dust, so much for health and safety.

A sledge would be easy to model with a human perched thereon with a few bales.

John

[Gingerbread]

Hi, I remember spending many a happy? time in the late 60's being stood on a "sledge", that was a large piece of wood attached by a chain to the baler that was dragged round the field, we were able to stack bales on the sledge and when there were 12 on there I shoved them off, spent all the time in a cloud of chaff and dust, so much for health and safety.

A sledge would be easy to model with a human perched thereon with a few bales.

John

I think the metal version of the "bale sledge" would be seen much more frequently, but rather more difficult to model with its delicate framework (in model form - the prototype was quite sturdy). Typical design can be seen at http://www.brownsagricultural.co.uk/bale_handling.aspx?picnumber=981

 

They were automated, using a cunning system of swinging gates to switch the bales into four different rows to form a "flat 8", then drop them into the field.

 

David

[PhilJ W]

Thanks all, so the ideal size for OO would be about 6X5X12 mm. I don't know of any commercially made model bales so it looks as if I shall have to try to find some plumbers hemp.

[David C]

Does anyone have any idea of the period the baler and trailers originate from? I know that Oxford say they are suitable for 1950 onwards, but the trailers look rather more modern to my eyes than this. A quick Google confirms this - although it was very quick!

 

Pity if they are - they would make excellent loads for lowmac, lowfits, 3 plank opens etc, although the baler looks a little too wide to fit.

 

David C

[PhilJ W]

Does anyone have any idea of the period the baler and trailers originate from? I know that Oxford say they are suitable for 1950 onwards, but the trailers look rather more modern to my eyes than this. A quick Google confirms this - although it was very quick!

 

Pity if they are - they would make excellent loads for lowmac, lowfits, 3 plank opens etc, although the baler looks a little too wide to fit.

 

David C

The farm machinery and trailers depicted all came into use circa 1950 and were quite common by 1960. The design did not change very much until the mid 80's when much larger machinery and tractors appeared, however such equipment can still be foundin use today.

[jcb 3c]

The open trailer looks like the 30cwt one made by Ferguson to go with the grey Fergie, bit of an odd choice as they weren't that common and rotted away quickly. Heres an example ;-

 

http://www.fergietrailershop.co.uk/index1.html

 

Whereas the 3ton tipping trailer with wooden dropsides made by Ferguson and many others was very very common from 1950 to present day. Example ;-

 

http://www.fergusonclub.com/gallery/Album/Coldridge%20Collection/slides/MF%20Industrial%203%20ton%20trailer.htm

[PhilJ W]

The open trailer looks like the 30cwt one made by Ferguson to go with the grey Fergie, bit of an odd choice as they weren't that common and rotted away quickly. Heres an example ;-

 

http://www.fergietra....uk/index1.html

 

Whereas the 3ton tipping trailer with wooden dropsides made by Ferguson and many others was very very common from 1950 to present day. Example ;-

 

http://www.fergusonc...n%20trailer.htm

That trailer looks like an easy conversion of the one in the Oxford set.

[laurenceb]

I do wish manufacturers wouldn't offer models in the wrong colour. The Fordson shown would only have appeared in blue with orange wheels in agricultural form. The Power Major, which is what it represents, was made from July 1958 to November 1960 and replaced the E1A New Major, very similar to look at but with different bonnet signage, built from December 1951 to August 1958. The overlap in production was to allow sufficient stocks of the new model to be built up. They were followed by the Super Major whose main visual difference was that the headlights moved to within the front grill and the New Performance Super Major when the colour scheme changed to a different shade of blue with light grey mudguards and wheel centres. The majors were one of the most successful tractors built by Fords and there are still many around today both in preservation and still earning a living in forestry and on small holdings.

The yello livery is authentic, but only on industrial tractors wich were not fited with a power take off and therefore could not power the baler.

The balers wheels are wrong they are too wide , they were abou a third of the width of those on the model. To many houres spent workin

with and on the darn things

Laurence

[David C]

Thanks to jcb 3c for finding those pics. The Fergie trailer is earmarked as a wagon load. The bailer is rather too wide to fit on a 4mm scale wagon, even if I found a way of narrowing the tyres. The livestock trailer still looks much to modern for my mid 50s layout, so I will probably dismantle it and build some other kind of trailer.

 

David C

[PhilJ W]

Thanks to jcb 3c for finding those pics. The Fergie trailer is earmarked as a wagon load. The bailer is rather too wide to fit on a 4mm scale wagon, even if I found a way of narrowing the tyres. The livestock trailer still looks much to modern for my mid 50s layout, so I will probably dismantle it and build some other kind of trailer.

 

David C

Try placing the baler at an angle, it should then fit onto a wagon. This was often done to keep such a load 'in gauge'.

[mikeharvey22]

The livestock trailer is now available on its own in a snazzy red and blue Chipperfields colour scheme. Might need a bit of weathering down not to frighten the sheep.

 

http://www.oxforddiecast.co.uk/shop/showcat.asp?cat=58&Latest+Releases

 

Mike

[PhilJ W]

The livestock trailer is now available on its own in a snazzy red and blue Chipperfields colour scheme. Might need a bit of weathering down not to frighten the sheep.

 

http://www.oxforddie...Latest+Releases

 

Mike

Unfortunately it does not open unlike the Classix horse-box and animal trailer. Have to get the razor saw out.