Martin Thompson

Heath and I drove two tractors (W6 and Farmall H while the rest were trailered) from Gore to Edendale ( just over an hour on the tractors ). Some people who live in Michigan had suggested pie and ice cream is always needed on such special occasions, so very reluctantly we were forced to stop for a Jimmy's mince and cheese pie and a ice cream. Brett ,trust you and your wife had a good trip home and glad you had a blast down here in the deep south. See ya next year unless we get lost and end up on that other island before then. Marty,NZ

I had the pleasure of meeting 35desoto (Brett) yesterday at the Edendale Vintage Club's Crank Up. He comes from up in the north island of NZ and comes south for the show and a look around. Hopefully he enjoyed driving my W4 in the all makes tractor parade. Also had the pleasure of meeting a Case collector from Iowa who is on a farm collector magazine tour. The group are from all over the US. He has about 80 Case tractors in his collection. Meeting RPF members has always been a awesome experience for us Kiwi's when visiting the US and have made some good friends there. Biggest problem is you all live so far apart ,we cant visit you all. Marty,NZ

Had the pleasure today of meeting 35desoto (Brett) at Crank Up. Really cool to meet another NZ forum member (He comes from up closer the other end of our small country). I even entrusted my W4 into his care for the all makes parade, hopefully he enjoyed his cruise around the main ring. There was a group from farm collector magazine. They came from all over the USA and seemed to enjoy the day there today and seeing what our country has to offer. The line up Dad and I have at Edendale this year. 1947 Case DEX ,1945 W6,1947 W4, 1945 Farmall H and 1941 Farmall A. Marty,NZ

All of the Freightliner Argosy's we have in the fleet at work were built in the US. Always made me laugh when they had a for export only sticker on the window ,would have thought the right hand drive would have confirmed that.

Hi Brett As Heath has said I will be at Crank Up this weekend and managed to talk him into coming down for it too. I don't have any European tractors but will have some American tractors on display. Last saturday the first tractor was driven to Gore ready to go to Edendale. It was a nice day for a cruise in the country and most importantly an ice cream. Hopefully we manage to catch you this year Marty,NZ

Freightliner have stopped selling cabovers ( Argosy)here in New Zealand with last last of them going on the road in the next few months. The Argosy was still being built in the US until recently for export only. The Cascadia is going to replace the Argosy in Freightliners offerings. The International 9800 is built in NZ. International is the only vehicle manufacturer in NZ now everything else is imported built up. Kenworth still build a cabover ,the K200 in Australia. A lot of the cabovers in NZ now are European. or Japanese ( we are now starting to see Chinese or Korean trucks being sold here too) as the American manufacturers stop building cabovers. Marty,NZ

Merry Christmas from the deep south of New Zealand. Hope everyone has a safe and very enjoyable festive season. Hopefully you guys in the north don't have too much snow and ice and can have a relaxing time. We normally line up the trucks at work for the Christmas break and this year is no exception. This is the Mossburn yard. The trucks are 11 Mercedes Benz ( + 3 that didn't make the line up ), 3 Volvos , 1 Daf and 1 Freightliner. The other yards will also have similar line ups. Marty,NZ

From what have been told McCormick Deering was used until sometime in 1946 on some of the letter series tha,then the IH logo was added to become IH McCormick Deering until 1949 when the Deering name was dropped. My early 1947 W4 still has McCormick Deering decals and it still is in original paint. Marty,NZ

fabricstore.com ,farmtoysoutlet.com and outback toys have some IH fabrics.

Make sure you check the amount of movement in the bull shafts while you have the brakes apart. My W4 had leaking seals and after replacing the seals leaked oil through the brakes again after a very short time. When I looked further it had a bearing failing on the bull shaft. I had to rebuild the transmission and back end but got lucky as there was no damage. I never did find the cage out of this bearing but all the balls were still there. Marty,NZ

Something different to your American trucks ,here is the company owned wheels I get to look after and steer. It is a 2018 Mercedes Benz Arocs 3253. 530 hp with 12 speed auto shift and full lock up Mercedes Benz drive axles. It is mainly used as a tipper or a flatbed hauling fertilizer, wool , fencing materials or animal feed products for our rural customers. IH KIwi checking out the truck the day I picked it up from the dealer. Tipping off a load of lime on farm Shifting 70 bales of lucerne hay. It is not often we get a load of medium square bales. Shifting barley straw. Truck on the right is a Mercedes Benz Actros 3248. This model has been replaced by the Arocs. Shifting pontoons for a new marina. Marty,NZ

Been lucky enough to get dragged to RPRU three times , Laporte, IN in 2010, Lima ,OH in 2013 and Union Grove ,WI in 2016. Marty,NZ

My W4 built in jan of 47.It has never been repainted. the underside of the hood and the rocker cover still show as red. Marty,NZ

Your Farmall B should have the tall filter as your tractor is pre 1945. The long filter should be 7-11/32" length and 3 - 1/2" OD. Steiner tractor parts list them as ABC094. The short filter is 5-19/32" length and 3-9/32" OD. Steiner number ABC095. Marty,NZ

Your Farmall B should use the long filter , like my Farmall A (FAA 51133) unless someone has swapped the housing. The long filter should be 7-11/32" length and 3 - 1/2" OD. Steiner tractor parts list them as ABC094. The short filter is 5-19/32" length and 3-9/32" OD. Steiner's number ABC095. My 1941 Farmall A has the tall filter while the 1947 W4 has the short. Marty,NZ