Field Marshall Tractor

Old machines to plough back into the past

Are you doing anything special to mark the wedding on Friday of Prince William and Kate Middleton?

Whether you’re an expat living in England or an ardent royalist living in Mid Canterbury, we’d like to hear what you’ve got planned for the big day.

Email chief reporter Erin Bishop at erin.b@theguardian.co.nz or phone her on 03 307 7957.

Porsche, Lamborghini And Field Marshall – CC Does Powerland Steam-Up

Every summer, the sputtering, popping hit-and-miss utility engines, the booming exhaust pulses of a giant  antique gas-powered generator engine, the hissing and huffing of steam engines and the popping of old John Deere tractors floats down the Willamette valley and awakens in me a primordial need to commune with these elemental beings. I don’t always heed the call, but every time I do, my soul is nourished. It may not be everyone’s cup of gasoline, but the sounds, smells and sights of Powerland Steam-Up are as rejuvenating for those susceptible as a health spa for others.

To start the Marshall a smouldering piece of special paper, containing saltpeter , is inserted into the cylinder head by means of the special screw-in holder in the cylinder head. The engine is then turned over with a starting handle placed in the starting dog on the flywheel. This is aided by the decompression valve, which decompresses the engine for anything up to 6 revolutions (generally 3 revolutions is sufficient – a spiral groove on the perimeter of the flywheel is used to determine the number of revolutions and position before top dead centre where the decompressor mechanism disengages and permits compression) to allow the flywheel to gain speed and inertia to turn the engine through compression, and get the engine to fire. Depending on the condition and mood of individual tractors, it is possible to get a thorough workout starting the Marshall.

A cartridge starting system is also fitted to the tractor. A shot-gun type cartridge is loaded into a breech on the engine’s intake system. The smouldering paper is placed in the cylinder head, and the cartridge is fired by tapping the protrusion pin with a hammer. This puts a charge into the bore, sending the piston through its stroke, bursting into life. This method, however, deposits carbon which often causes jamming of the decompression valve if cartridges are regularly used. It also puts significantly more strain on the engine.

The Ford Ferguson story is entertaining in itself when the partnership disolved ford kept using the Ferguson system hydraulic 3 point linkage on its own tractors Ferguson sued and won the biggest patent payout of the time $6 mill. Those little tractors are referred to here as Fergys with standard 4cyl motors, you can should you desire to put the twin carbs, cam, dissy etc from a triumph tr on with a set of headers, one very fast tractor.

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