SHOW NEWS

By Staff
1 / 7
2 / 7
Mastcy-Harris 81 tractor powering a Waterous shingle mill at the Ontario Agricultural Museum in Milton, Ontario June 29, 30 & 31 and July 1, 1985.
Mastcy-Harris 81 tractor powering a Waterous shingle mill at the Ontario Agricultural Museum in Milton, Ontario June 29, 30 & 31 and July 1, 1985.
3 / 7
1904 Rco.
1904 Rco.
4 / 7
A 1930 Ford model AA fire truck.
A 1930 Ford model AA fire truck.
5 / 7
A Brons (Dutch make) 1913 25 PK.
A Brons (Dutch make) 1913 25 PK.
6 / 7
A Lister type L 1923
A Lister type L 1923
7 / 7
1940 Lister D.
1940 Lister D.

Curator of Collections, Ontario Agricultural Museum, PO Box 38,
Milton, Ontario, Canada L9T 2Y3

The first of July is a very special day in Canada as all
Canadians celebrate their country’s birthday. One very popular
way to celebrate is to look back at our heritage, to see the
progress we have made as a nation from our start in 1867 to the
present day. As with many countries in the world, Canada has its
roots in agriculture and very early in its history, there
flourished a great number of companies devoted to the manufacture
of farm implements. In the first quarter of the 20th century, many
of these firms made an attempt to gain a foothold in the new field
of tractor and gasoline engine manufacture few of these companies
were able to survive those rocky years and most remain forgotten
today.

To celebrate the Canada Day weekend this year, the Ontario
Agricultural Museum commemorated these largely forgotten
manufacturers by holding the Great Canadian Antique Tractor Field
Days. This three day event was designed to feature antique
tractors, steam engines and gasoline engines of Canadian
manufacture, defined as ‘built or assembled in Canada by
Canadian or foreign-owned manufacturers, or built or assembled in a
foreign country by Canadian-owned manufacturers’. The event
proved to be a most patriotic, entertaining and successful
weekend.

Twenty-seven antique Canadian tractors were featured at this
event, the majority being built by Massey-Harris. The earliest of
these, a #3 cross-motor, was built in 1921 in Weston, now a part of
Toronto. One of the newest, a 1950 M-H ‘Pony’ was
manufactured at Massey’s Woodstock, Ontario plant. The
remaining 14 M-H tractors were built in Racine, Wisconsin’
Canadian’ since they were built by a Canadian owned company.
The firm of Sawyer-Massey, from Hamilton, Ontario was represented
by the next largest assortment of Sawyer-Massey tractors ever to be
displayed at any tractor show. There were five in total, all built
during the ‘teens. They included a newly restored 11-22 HP,
three 20-40 HP models, one owned by the Museum, and one 30-60 HP,
the largest built by this pioneering firm.

The remaining tractors were as rare as proverbial hen’s
teeth (as, of course, were many of the Sawyer-Massey and
Massey-Harris models). This list includes a Toronto-built 1911
Canadian Fairbanks-Morse 15-25 HP single cylinder tractor, the
oldest tractor on the grounds for the event. A Goold, Shapley &
Muir ‘Beaver’, built in 1921 in Brantford, Ontario was a
crowd favorite as its owner demonstrated its unique friction-drive
system and sliding engine, virtually identical to the American
‘Heider’. The Robert Bell Engine & Thresher Co. of
Seaforth, Ontario dabled with gasoline tractors quite early, and
Ontario’s only known example, a 1920 Robert Bell
‘Imperial’ was at the Field Days. The feature tractor for
the weekend was the Museum’s extremely rare three-wheeled Chase
tractor, built in 1919 in Toronto, and one of only two known to
exist today. The final tractor of the event was a more modern unit,
a 1950 Waterloo ‘Bronco’, built in Waterloo, Ontario by a
former steam engine manufacturer and sold through the
Minneapolis-Moline dealership network. Consequently its Prairie
gold and red colors were familiar to many.

Five steam engines were featured, including a 78 HP
Sawyer-Massey traction engine owned by the Ontario Agricultural
Museum, a 20 HP George White traction, built in London, Ontario in
1921 and a 1919 Sawyer-Massey 17 HP traction engine. Two portables,
both owned by the Museum were featured a George White return flue
manufactured about 1890 and a John Abell built in about the same
period in Woodbridge, Ontario.

A large number and variety of gasoline engines were featured. A
few highlights would include a wonderful collection of
Massey-Harris engines in some ten different sizes, a striking
Goold, Shapley and Muir tower-cooled horizontal engine, built very
early in this century and a 1905 16 HP Barrie engine, built in the
Ontario town of the same name. There were a couple of engines built
outside of Ontario, including a 3 HP Caron Brothers engine and
generator built in Montreal, and a 5 HP Dorchester, built in Port
Rouge, Quebec in 1922. In total, Great Canadian Antique Tractor
Field Days was home for 50 gasoline engines for the Canada Weekend,
and all were very impressive.

Special attractions for the event included a shingle mill,
powered by a Massey-Harris #81 tractor, a saw mill, powered by the
Museum’s 72 HP Sawyer-Massey traction engine and a working
wooden pump-making exhibit, displayed by the National Museum of
Science and Technology and powered by a 6 HP Renfrew engine.
Attendance records show that some 3,000 people visited the Museum
over the Canada Day Weekend. Many of these visitors joined in
competitions at the stage, trying their hands at bag tying,
log-sawing and nail driving. The tractors, too joined in the fun as
they competed in coverall races, slow races and obstacle courses.
Daily parades and a Sunday hymn-sing gave our exhibitors and
visitors a chance to rest and reflect for awhile.

The event was so successful that Museum management has
determined that Great Canadian Antique Tractor Field Days will
return in 1986. Hopefully, we can increase the numbers of equipment
that attend and create an even greater awareness of the long
history of tractor manufacturing in the nation of Canada.

Laren, Holland Show Report

By E. A. J. Van der Schaal, Eemnesserweg 16, 1251 NC Laren N.H.,
Holland

On June 9, 1985, the 14th Larens Oldtimer and Sheepshearing
Festival was held in Laren N.H., Holland, again with great
success.

More than 150 old cars from before 1940 were displayed Auburn,
Bugatti, Minerva, Wolseley, De Dion et Bouton, Panhard Levassor,
Rochet Schneider, Citroen, Chevrolet, Oldsmobile, Nash, Rolls
Royce, Ford T and A, and many others, all in showroom condition.
The cars and owners were a concours d’elegancesome even wearing
matching clothing!

In a special area, about 150 stationary engines were displayed,
most of them in working order. Several were driving water pumps,
dynamos, grinders, mills, etc. It was fascinating to see how
interested the people were in the stationary engines, watching and
asking questions about them.

The showpiece of the festival was a 25 PK Brons from 1913. This
Dutch made engine has a height of 4 meters. There were also very
old hot air engines (c. 1885) and many well known American engines
like Fairbanks-Morse, I.H.C., Arco, Hercules, and many English,
German, and French made engines.

Steam engines were represented by locomobiles, road rollers, and
several model steam trains. There were about 100 stalls with spare
parts, books, antiques, bric-a-brac, handcrafts, food, etc.

To complete the Festival, there was a great sheep shearing show
and entertainment by folk dancing groups, and dixieland jazz
musicians. We had many visitors from abroad and some participants
in the Festival were from England. As you can see, there is great
fun for the whole family.

Our next Festival will be held on 8 June, 1986, in Laren N.H.,
Holland. If you’d like information about our Festival, please
feel free to write.

  • Published on Oct 1, 1985
Online Store Logo
Need Help? Call 1-866-624-9388