OFF THE BEATEN TRACK

Geoffrey Mark has had a passion for our engineering past since he played on the family Fordson Standard as a child and then restored it to working order in later life. Like many enthusiasts, his collection includes tractors that were common in the fields when he was a youth, but it’s veteran machines from long ago and far away that really spark his imagination.

Girders

“About 20 years ago, the Traction Engine Club of Ulster arranged pre-war tractor displays at their annual rally. I went along with the Fordson Standard, but it was the really early technology that caught my eye. I really wanted an old girder-framed tractor like an Overtime or an International Mogul. In fact, I’d have sold one of my sons at the time if it meant I could buy an early tractor.

“I went with the club to Newark show in the early 2000s and we stopped to see a tractor collection in Cumbria on the way home. That’s where I saw a Cletrac Model H. It was in poor condition with rotten tinwork and although the engine was turning freely the magneto was missing.

“One of the club members