Vintage tractors become family attraction at Waikato strawberry farm

The Farmall F20 (left) and Allis-Chalmers B at their new strawberry field home. Photo / Catherine Fry

Kamal Dhillon is a second-generation strawberry farmer with farms in Cambridge and Hamilton.

Parents of 3-year-old Kyra, Kamal and his wife Danielle were interested in providing entertainment for children visiting their berry fields.

“We really wanted to provide play areas and also come up with something that would become a signature attraction for us,” Kamal said.

They settled on vintage tractors, which Kamal felt would showcase an important piece of New Zealand farming history.

“I searched online for quite a while as I wanted something old and maybe a little unusual.”

Kamal’s search led him to the sale of a collection of machinery, where he picked out two older tractors that were both still running.

He purchased a 1934 McCormick-Deering Farmall F20 and a 1940s Allis-Chalmers B.

Farmall F20

The 1934 McCormick-Deering Farmall F20. Photo / Catherine Fry

The Farmall F20 is a heavy vehicle with a cast iron chassis.

The 29hp engine has four cylinders and a four-gear transmission.

It is started using a crank handle.

Originally it ran on a petrol and kerosene mixture but a petrol manifold has been added, probably when kerosene became expensive.

Kyra (left), Kamal and Danielle Dhillon. Photo / Catherine Fry

It has French and Hecht cast-iron-hub wheels with steel spokes and steel rims.

While this F20 has tyres in the past they were a luxury, and many farmers drove on the steel rims.

Initially, the F20 model had steering-activated brakes and moved to pedal brakes in the late 1930s.

Three-year-old Kyra Dhillon at the wheel of the Farmall F20. Photo / Catherine Fry

This model has no footbrake and relies on a manual park brake.

Made in Chicago, the F20 was the first Farmall produced with row crop formation wheels at the front.

Implements of the same brand were available for this sought-after machine.

Allis-Chalmers B

1940s Allis-Chalmers B. Photo: Catherine Fry

This Persian Orange Allis-Chalmers B has a four-cylinder 12 or 13hp engine.

Hundreds of these versatile little tractors were imported from the States and the UK between 1937 and 1952.

From the look of the front axle and the two-person seat, this vehicle is an American import from the late 1940s.

The Allis-Chalmers B (left) and the Farmall F20. Photo / Catherine Fry

This particular example appears to have had its rear wheels substituted at some point in the past and has front tyres from a different model but is in good working order throughout.

The two machines were briefly reunited for a photo shoot before they returned to their respective farms, where they can be admired by the public for their part in New Zealand’s farming history.

Many thanks to George Gardiner (Farmall) and Noel Yearbury (Allis-Chalmers) from the Waikato Vintage Tractor and Machinery Club for sharing their knowledge about Kamal and Danielle’s two tractors.