Do take your Valentine out for a spin

My grandfather used to take my parents tractor out for rides, down to the bar, or the liquor store....neighbors would call up and tattle on him......family stories .......!

Thank you Stephen. That is much appreciated!

This picture is of considerable historic interest. It shows Towaninny South farmer, Reginald “Woollo” Woolsthorpe and his wife, Mabel, setting off for the 1927Quamatook Field Days. Mechanised tractors started taking off in Australia in the 1920s and field days provided a welcome opportunity for manufacturers of various items of interest to the farming community to show off their wares. To encourage attendees, a variety of active demonstrations and entertainments were arranged.
One such event, in 1925, was a tractor race around the Showgrounds arena. This was a spontaneous match race between “Jacko” Jackson on his Fordson and Tittybong notable, Bill Blackwood on his Hart-Parr. The Fordson won. A formal race was held the following year, with nine entries and three reserves, held over because of lack of room on the course.
For 1927, the organising committee chose the paddock over the road from the Showgrounds for the race. This would allow more entries and to further enhance the spectacle, a tractor and side car race was arranged. It was this event that attracted an entry from Woollo and a month before the event, he set about attaching the side car from his Harley-Davidson to his tractor. Mabel expressed her concerns about being too close to the heavily cleated rear wheel, so Woollo positioned the car further forward to ease her concerns. This, unfortunately, lead to their defeat in the race.
The race was to be run clockwise around the boundary of an essentially rectangular paddock of about 60acres. A LeMans start saw Woollo and Mabel in third place at the first turn, and it was here that he realised the error of his ways. In placing the side car further forward, he failed to notice that it was now very close to the left hand front wheel and that this would severely limit his right hand steering lock.
Unable to make the sharpish turn, our intrepid pair ploughed through the Shire Mayor’s fence, jamming the throttle open with a piece of barbed wire and ripping out the magneto earthing wire, leaving Woollo and Mabel at the mercy of their errant machine, until the farmer’s dam finally halted their progress.
Once a horse team had pulled the tractor out and returned it to the Woolsthorpe property, it was soon dried out and resumed its normal activities. Mabel, on the other hand, refused to every sit in the side car again, whether it was attached to the Harley or the tractor.
It is worth noting, that when he got his next wool cheque, Woollo bought “ one of them new Model A Fords.”

In 1923 Ford offered accessory fenders (wings) on the Fordson to prevent flipovers. Holes were provided on the edge of the dashboard to attach these. This example lacks the holes. The radiator sides are solid so it must be later than 1919. The coil box with the eyebrow/rainbow embossed on the side and with the cover lacking a gutter is one of the early types. The exhaust pipe is not factory original. These tractors were painted gray with red wheels; it's hard to believe this example isn't all gray. I suggest this is a 1920-1922 example.

There used to be a country-western singer named George Jones. George liked to drink to the point where his wife his his car keys. so George went to the bar on his riding lawnmower. I don't recall if it had a side car.

Waltzing Matilda we go, down to the nearest pub.