The Veteran Farmer Magazine PO Box 408, Halfway House 1685
Republic of South Africa
A unique one-off event was held in South Africa in April this
year [1999], designed to bring together all aspects of agricultural
preservation in the country.
The event was promoted by South Africa’s agricultural
preservation magazine, The Veteran Farmer, on the site of
a large commercial farming estate, Sandstone Estate (Pty) Limited
in the Eastern Free State.
This property, which is some 400 kms from the sea, lies at the
foothills of the majestic Maluti Mountain range in an area well
known for its agricultural diversities. The farm itself is situated
on the border with the small mountainous country of Lesotho, which
finds itself with South Africa as its only neighbor on all
sides.
Preparation started more than a year before the show took place.
Organisers were appointed in each of the following categories:
Vintage Tractors, Stationary Engines, Agricultural Steam, Main line
and 2 ft. Narrow Gauge Steam, Vintage Commercial Vehicles, Cars and
Light Trucks, and Old Earth Moving Equipment.
If one had something to display and it did not fall into one of
the above categories–no matter, they brought it along anyway.
Gert Beukes, for example, worked a beautiful team of trained
indigenous Nguni oxen. He gave a demonstration on how these highly
trained intelligent animals ploughed with a precision that most
people living today could not believe. A last century traditional
ox wagon was also in daily use during the event.
The show was built around one specific event–the Great
100 Working itself. On the Saturday afternoon anyone who owned a
machine that could pull just about anything was encouraged to
participate in one land at one time. A spectacular send-off of more
than 100 vintage tractors and agricultural steam engines (not
forgetting the oxen) set off across a large land pulling
cultivators, ploughs, disc harrows and just about anything that
could disturb the ground.
Chris Wilson, who organised this event, ran around frantically
for two to three hours before the event cajoling and urging people
to start their machines up and move in the direction of the event.
Only half an hour before, it seemed a futile exercise with little
order emerging from the chaos. Miraculously as so often happens in
these cases, when the flare was fired at 2:00 p.m. the helicopter
was in the air to take the photographs and every machine that had
been assembled was on its way. Of course some were quicker than
others, and some ground to a halt after a while.
For the 106 people who did participate in this attempt for a
place in the Guinness Book of Records, in the category of the
widest variety of old agricultural machines of all ages and the
most number of different models all working together in one field,
it was great fun whether they broke the record or not. The
necessary submission has been made to the Guinness Book of
Records.
An excellent 1.5 hour documentary video on The Great
100 has been released and can be purchased from RF
International as follows, for U.S. $ 19.50 (postage and packing
included). Write to Roger Capper, RF International, P.O. Box 2127,
Apopka, Florida 32704 USA; telephone 407-886-7751, fax
407-886-7762.
For anyone interested in preservation, particularly
agricultural, this video will provide a unique opportunity to
understand and view the huge diversity of American, British, German
and other makes of equipment that were shipped in volume to South
Africa throughout the century to support agricultural, mining and
industrial activities.
How did the event compare with major rallies in the UK and the
USA? For a start, a 6.5 kms two foot narrow gauge railway was
specifically constructed for the event using old earth moving
machinery. A range of old Foden dump trucks, a 1939 Scammell, and a
variety of old Cat dozers and scrapers were used to build the line,
to put in the cuttings, and to construct a dam over which the
railway line was completed barely hours before the event was
started.
A two foot narrow gauge 65 tonne South African-manufactured
Garratt NGG type No. 16 ran throughout the show and was always full
to capacity.
Seven thousand people made the trek to this relatively remote
part of the country to attend the event–they participated or just
soaked up the sights and sounds of paraffin, steam, and the clatter
of old threshing machines.
It was big, it was broad, it was noisy, and nobody won a prize!
To be there was a win in itself.