Australian Made Tractors
To gain further
information about our agricultural heritage and tractors in Australia I recommend you subscribe
to "The Old Machinery Magazine Magazine"(see under Aussie Links) and
read the following books, Australian Tractors by Graeme R Quick. Ian M
Johnston's Century of Classic Tractors, Agricultural Tractors, World of Classic
Tractors and Classic Tractors in Australia. Big Lizzie by Ron
Maslin. Hugh Victor McKay The young inventor and Digging Stick to Rotary Hoe by
Frances Wheelhouse. A. H. McDonald Industrial Pioneer by Kennith Neal McDonald
JELBART
Frank
and George Jelbart registered their business in Ballarat, Victoria in 1911.
They had been working on their air scavenger engine for some time and took out
a patent in 1909. They produced one of Australia's first combustion
engines and within a few years had several models available. Around 1914 they
fitted one of the engines to their first tractor and continued producing them
until the mid 1920's. They were all basically the same but were fitted with a
variety of their innovative engines. A peculiarity of one of these engines was
the stepped piston that was used. The firm had its financial problems but
continued for several years in a small way after tractor production ceased in
about 1926. You can see the Australian made Jelbart at, Gulgong
Museum, Swan Hill Pioneer Settlement, Temora Rural
Museum, Booleroo Centre.
I have just received a lot of interesting information on Jelbart tractors
and engines from Scott Shaw who holds a Register of Jelbart equipment. If
anyone out there has a Jelbart tractor or engine I'm sure he would like to hear
from you. You can contact him at PO
Box 283 Hastings
3915 Victoria.
We owe a lot to people like Scott who spend a lot of their time compiling
information which helps to preserve our agricultural history.
Photo, Temora
Museum
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RONALDSON TIPPETT
The Ronaldson brothers started to produce farm machinery in 1903, Jack
Tippett joined them in 1905. They produced some of Australia's earliest internal
combustion engines including the Austral brand, by the early 1920's they had
produced over 4000 engines. They experimented with tractors as early as 1910
but it was not until the mid 1920's that they introduced their Super Drive
tractor.(see story below) They also imported the Wisconsin engines and later
made them under license, they produced a lot of engines for WW2 and by the end
of the war were Australia's largest engine manufacturer. They ceased making
tractors in the late 1930's and continued making engines until 1972
Things are not always as they seem and this could apply to the Vintage
Ronaldson Tippett tractor which is part of the large collection at the Temora Rural
Museum. Actually the only
part that is Ronaldson Tippett is the oversize cast iron radiator with Ronaldson
Tippett cast into its ample front area. The tractor is in reality, a l924
American "Illinois", one of 73
tractors imported by Ronaldson Bros and Tippett of Ballarat, Victoria,
who were heavily involved in the manufacture of Austral oil engines and a variety
of high grade farm machinery. It seems that the Temora tractor, serial number
l0, was one of the first batch of 25 Illinois
tractors imported in l924 and all of the batch had a cooling system problem,
being prone to boiling when working under unfavourable conditions. To overcome
the problem Ronaldson Bros and Tippett made an oversize radiator, incorporating
a very large top tank onto which they cast their name.
In
other words they re-badged the tractors. Tractor No l0 was dispatched to a
Temora farmer on 8th October l924. It was presented to the Temora Rural
Museum by Mr Bob Dunn, of
Temora, in good working condition. It is not known if he was the original
purchaser. These tractors were known as "Super Drives" which probably
referred to the somewhat unique transmission which consisted of a planetary
final drive on the rear wheels and a quick change set of cogs under a cover on
the side of the transmission housing. Having an assortment of various size cogs
it was possible to change the gear ratio of the tractor in a few minutes. The
tractor also had a gear lever that gave two forward speeds as well as a
reverse. The Illinois-cum Ronaldson Tippett
was a made up job using a Wisconsin l8-30 HP
engine with a bore of 5" and stroke of 6". The transmission was
manufactured by Foote Bros and the wheels by the Electric Wheel Co of Illinois. Like many
other tractors and machines the Illinois
had its own very disconcerting peculiarity. The foot brake, while reasonable
effective, became immediately ineffective when the gear lever was placed in
neutral. I first discovered this unusual trait when unloading the tractor on a
long slope in the railway goods yard. The tractor took off as soon as I put it
out of gear. Ronaldson Bros and Tippett went on to manufacture a replica of the
Illinois, starting with their own serial number of l0l. It is thought they made
over 400 Super Drive tractors and ceased production about l939. The later
models were fitted with pneumatic tyres but apart from a few minor improvements
to the governor and the fitting of a power take-off there was little change in
design from the original Illinois.
The Super Drives were a simple, but rugged tractor, easy to start and the slow
revving motor governed at 900 RPM was capable of lugging a heavy load. I found,
even with its lack of frills, it is a delightful machine to drive.
Thanks to Ron Maslin and the Temora
Museum. Photo 1998
Exhibition
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CHAMBERLAIN
Chamberlain
had worked on repairing tractors for several years and believed he could
produce a tractor more suited to Australian conditions. After working on a
prototype for a few years, A.W.Chamberlain and his Sons produced their first
production tractor in 1949 at their Welshpool factory in Western Australia. The 40K & KA and the
more powerful 55KA models had a twin cylinder, horizontally opposed, kerosene
engine with 9 forward and 3 reverse gears. The 3cylinder diesel 70DA followed
and then Champion and Countryman models. A Champion 9G was transformed into the
well know Tail End Charlie and competed in the Redex round Australia endurance
rallies.(see it at the Tractor Museum of Western Australia, link on page 1) In
the early 1960's the Super 90 was produced, it proved to be very popular and
competed favourably with the imported heavyweights. In 1970 John Deere took a
large stake in Chamberlain and their engines, transmissions etc were gradually
incorporated into the tractors. The last wholesale delivery occurred in 1990,
the end of a great Australian tractor. For further information on Chamberlain
check out http://www.starwon.com.au/~painter/WA/museum.htm
Photo above, 1950's 40K
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McDONALD
Another
tractor pioneer of Australia
was Alfred Henry McDonald, with his brother they established an engineering
business in Melbourne
in the early 1900's. They produced their first tractor the Imperial EA 20hp 2
cylinder model in 1908, the EB, EE etc. followed. In the 1920's they imported
the Swedish, Advance and the Emerson Brantingham from the USA. After a
short absence of manufacturing tractors they began production again in 1930.
Their single cylinder hot bulb engine similar to Germany's Lance was installed in
the T range, the earlier models used some Rumley parts. The TWB model was
popular and continued until world war 2 disrupted production. They recommenced
limited production after the war until the 1950's.
Photo, 1934 TWB at the Gunnedah
museum.
John
Kirkpatrick of Victoria has been kind enough to send me a photo of his EB
Imperial 25-30, tractor No. 138 engine No. 164. He believes it was built in
about 1913 and was purchased by his father in 1963. The water from the engine
is pumped to the square cooling tower and allowed to trickle down the screens,
the muffler above helps to create draught over the screens. As you can see by
the photo John has done an a magnificent job in restoring this old Australian
tractor
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HOWARD
Clifford Howard was one of Australia's
greatest agricultural engineers and in 1971 was awarded the CBE for his
services to the industry. His first "Rotavator" was produced in
Sydney, Australia in the early 1920's and over the following years he became
one of the worlds leaders in affordable rotary cultivator manufacture and
exported them to many countries. To continue the push into the world wide
market he decided in 1938 to set up a manufacturing plant in Essex, England.
The Howard range included several walk behind models known as the Gem, Foxie,
Bantam, Bullfinch, Terrier etc. tractor driven cultivators and 3 and 4 wheel
tractors. To capture the market for his larger cultivators he made a wise
decision to produce a range to suit the Fordson F & N models at the time
when these tractors outsold all others. In 1930 he produced his DH22 tractor
with matching cultivator, it was powered with a 4 cylinder 22hp engine, ( see photo
above) these tractors were sold in several countries including England and North America.
A small market garden tractor called the Kelpie was also produced, it was
similar to the Beaver made in the USA. For a short time the 1950's
the English factory also produced the Platypus crawler tractor.
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CALDWELL VALE
The following is an extract from a
feature in the TOMM magazine on the restoration of a Caldwell Vale by Reg Schuster. Link to TOMM http://www.tomm.com.au/
The Caldwell
Vale tractor/truck had its beginning in Adelaide
1907 when Felix and Norman Caldwell applied for a patent described as
"four wheel drive, four wheel steering". In 1910 with Henry Vale a
financier, heavy equipment and locomotive manufacturer they established
Caldwell Vale Motor and Tractor Construction Company in Auburn,
Sydney.
Unfortunately due to financial problems the production of what was most likely
the worlds most technically advanced tractor was ceased in 1916 when the
company was taken over by Purcell Engineering.
Reg acquired his Caldwell Vale truck after a phone call
stating that there was an unusual looking piece of machinery at a scrap metal
merchant. He immediately recognised it to be two Caldwell Vale road trains. This was a major
find which led Reg and friends to many months of extensive
restoration work. For the complete and interesting story of this
restoration process contact me or "The Old Machinery Magazine" on the
above link. The photo on the right is the Caldwell
Vale making its debut at the Rusty Iron Rally, NSW with Reg proudly seated at
the wheel.
The
tractors of 40 and 80 HP were also fitted with platform bodies for overland
road train operations, the one Reg rebuilt being a fine example. I have not
been able to get a photo of a tractor. It is believed that approx. 40-50 were
built between 1910 and 1916, several were used in the construction of the city
of Canberra,
others were used by the Australian Pastoral Company in the Longreach area. The
photo on the right shows Reg holding the Schebler carburettor beside his fully
assembled engine. The 4 cylinder petrol engine developed 80hp at 800rpm, has a
bore and stroke of 6in x 6in, 11.25 litre. The transmission has 3 forward, 1
reverse and gives the 9 ton truck a maximum speed of 10mph and a petrol
consumption of 1 mile per gallon. The engine with the exception of the Schebler
carburettor and the Simms magneto was built entirely by Caldwell
Vale in their Auburn factory. It runs in
constant 4 wheel drive and interestingly featured power steering, way before
its time. Any photos or further information on the Caldwell Vale is always welcome
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McKAY SUNSHINE MH
Hugh Victor McKay had a huge input
into Australia's agricultural history, he was only in his teens when designed
his first stripper-harvester. He experimented with self propelled harvesters
and around 1915-20 produced the Sunshine model "A" and "O"
tractors. It is not known how many were made, a model "A "survives at
the Victorian Museum. Shortly before he died in 1926
production of these tractors ceased. The Sunshine Harvester Works had early
ties with the Canadian firm Massey Harris and in the 1930's went into
partnership with them. The Sunshine Massey Harris model 25, 26-41HP was sold in
the early 1930's, this tractor was based on the Wallis 20-30 which Massey
Harris acquired when they purchased J. I. Case Plough Works in 1928. The
16-26HP Pacemaker and Challenger followed, other tractors including the 744D
which was made in Massey Harris's Kilmarnock factory in Scotland wore the "Sunshine" name
until Massey Ferguson
took complete control in 1955
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KL
BULLDOG
Kelly & Lewis who had imported
Lanz Bulldogs prior to the 2nd World War decided to produce their own Bulldog
after the war . They set up a plant in Victoria
and had great plans to produce large numbers but in the end made less that
1000. They ceased production in 1954, by this time Lanz had resumed production
and were once again available on the Australia market. The KL Bulldog's
are sought after by Australian collectors and several have been purchase by
European collectors, lets hope that most of them stay in Australia as they are
an important part of our agricultural heritage. The Photo was taken at the Gunnedah Museum.
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BIG LIZZIE
Frank Bottrill had a dream to
transport wool from the sheep stations in the Broken Hill area. His first
attempt with a steam engine ended in disaster when he became hopelessly bogged.
This led him in 1906 to developing his Dreadnaught Wheels which he fitted to
several tractors. His mind still on his dream he built the huge "Big
Lizzie" tractor in 1915-16 in Melbourne.
He left Melbourne
in the 34foot, 45 ton monster and headed north, he only got as far as Mildura.
Not being able to cross the Murray River he
worked Big Lizzie in the Mildura Red cliff area until 1924. Big Lizzie has been
partly restored and is on display in Red Cliff. Read the full story on Big
Lizzie in Ron Maslin's book of the same name.
Big Lizzie at Red Cliff, Victoria
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Last Revised: Jan 2008
