Articles

Psyche Bend Pump Station

Psyche Bend Pump Station was built in 1891 by the Chaffey brothers, after Psyche Bend, in Mildura, Vic, was identified as a good location to install a pump station to meet the needs of a new irrigation settlement. The Chaffey brothers arrived in...

25 Apr 2024

By The TOMM Team

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Giant Chamberlain Tractor - Bonus Photos

Ronaldson Tippet Factory Demolition

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The 18th of December 2015, saw the central, last remaining section of the Ronaldson & Tippett factory in Ballarat, Vic demolished. The North section and landmark signed wall went in March 2013. The office block and paintshop, will also...

21 Apr 2024

By The TOMM Team

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A.H. McDonald Vaporising Cup Oil Engines

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Many years ago, I was with a friend at his parent’s house. It was a couple of years after his father had passed away, and he decided to show me his late Dad’s shed. It was in that shed that I first laid eyes on a McDonald vaporising cup engine...

18 Apr 2024

By The TOMM Team

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Foden Wagons on the Western Front WWI

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In May 1918, five Australian Army Corps, under the total command of Lieutenant General John Monash as GOC, made history as the Australian Imperial Forces went in to action to achieve some of its greatest victories south of the Somme River, in the...

14 Apr 2024

By The TOMM Team

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Draper’s Windmill Gas Engine Reaches 100 years Old!

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Drapers’ windmill at Margate, East Kent, UK, is the only working smock mill in Margate. It was built in 1850 by local master millwright, John Holman of Canterbury, but no-one knows who owned this mill up until Mr Holman’s passing in 1855. The...

06 Apr 2024

By The TOMM Team

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Peter Turner’s 1928 18-36 Hart-Parr Australian Special

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Peter Turner owned a machinery and car dealership in Meningie, SA, for many years and during that time he got to know where the old tractors were so he started collecting them. Peter says he was always one step ahead of the scrap metal dealers. The...

04 Apr 2024

By The TOMM Team

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A Visit to Deepest West Sussex

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Some 20 years ago, two friends of mine were contracted to fit a 1920 Crossley Brothers, Manchester, 32bhp town gas engine, No. 81128, into a local Kentish smock windmill, called Drapers Mill that had been built in 1845. This father and son team are...

31 Mar 2024

By The TOMM Team

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Windmills, Tanks & Troughs Three Generations Using Southern Cross Products

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The year 1933 was a joyous year – my parents, Bob and Joan Scott, were married. But that joy soon evaporated as the Depression that had been happening, started to be felt on the farm Bob had been looking for that extra off-farm income, and soon...

28 Mar 2024

By The TOMM Team

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Lives of the Engineers G. Roberts & Sons, Bendigo

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The firm of A. Roberts & Sons made an important contribution to the Victorian mining centre of Bendigo as well as to a wider sphere of Victorian engineering. Abraham Roberts was born on 13 July 1819 in Cornwall, England. He was the son of...

24 Mar 2024

By The TOMM Team

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Family Fergie 1954 Ferguson TEF 20

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One thing that is very useful for visitors at vintage machinery shows is the sign which tells you a few relevant facts about the machine on display. If the owner isn’t standing next to his machine, the information on the sign can be a valuable...

21 Mar 2024

By The TOMM Team

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A True Australian Icon

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The use of the word icon is grossly overused – however in this instance it refers to the International Harvester products used to help build our country, one could say more than any other piece of mobile agricultural, civil engineering or road...

The Winget Tractor Made by Pederick

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Pederick Engineering has to be one of the oldest established rural agricultural engineering business names in Western Australia, with the original company established by Clifford Pederick in Wagin, WA, in 1928. Pedericks continued to grow until they...

13 Mar 2024

By The TOMM Team

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Lives of the Engineers James O’Grady

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This is the third in a series on ‘Lives of the Engineers’. James O’Grady seems little known as few items of his output survive, although his foundry and engineering works had a reputation for a very high standard of workmanship. James William...

11 Mar 2024

By The TOMM Team

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Something a Little Different

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When it comes to something a little different, the Bradford Nu-Trac crawler tractor, as produced by a Mr R. Bradford, certainly fits the bill. Research has produced very little information on the Bradford Nu-Trac. In fact, I have only seen one...

07 Mar 2024

By The TOMM Team