6 November 2013

For Immediate Release

Caption: Manawatu Vintage Machinery Club members David Dench and Allan Gibson with the Booth-MacDonald baler.

Old machines for Royal appearance

THE Booth-MacDonald baler is an especially intriguing piece of rural equipment – it’s effectively a machine that relies on manpower.

Though similar in look to modern haybaling machinery, it’s really a lot more rudimentary as it can only manage just the most basic task – shaping hay into tight rectangular packs.

It is also a demanding and labour-intensive apparatus. When out in the field, up to 10 people, in fact, are required for its operation.

Some brought the hay to the machine, others fed in, two standing either side tied the bales – with wire, not string – at least one kept bale size under control and then more stacked the finished article. Every action was not without hazard.

And yet, as older designs were slower, even less productive, the Booth-MacDonald stood out as an exemplar of efficiency on New Zealand farms until the direct forerunners of today’s equipment came out post World War II.

It lives on now as a valued reminder of our agricultural history, one of the restored and functional fascinations of our bygone days that Manawatu Vintage Machinery Club will proudly display at Manfeild Park on December 6-8 for the Royal New Zealand Show.

What constitutes a vintage machine? The fascinations for those who collect and restore to former beauty bits and bobs that connect mainly to our pastoral past that might otherwise be lost to metal recyclers or the dump, are truly diverse.

“Everything from inkwells to massive harvesters,” chuckles David Dench of Colyton who, with club president Allan Gibson (Wanganui) and the baler’s owner, Brian Schnell (Bunnythorpe), are avid collectors of rural relics, some more than 100 years old.

“It doesn’t matter what it is. We just like operating it. The fact that we are also saving for the future is in some ways just a spin-off,” Mr Schnell says.

A wide range of can-do machinery kept up to chuffing and clanking condition is promised for the show. Particular magnets for all-age interest are the tractors, dozers and stationary engines. The slow revving and stout-hearted latter machines from Lister, International, Hercules, Tancye and Fairbanks Morse stoically pumped water, powered electrical equipment and ran shearing equipment on farms throughout the country for much of the last century.

Mr Gibson’s Whanganui River Road wool shed, in fact, still relies on one. As well as powering the handpieces it also heats up water for the workers to wash off with at day’s end.

New Zealand is a great place for collectors; we were rare in accepting machinery from all parts of the globe, including from brands long lost, and there are still plenty of pickings awaiting restoration. That’s assuming it’s not still in use.

“The thing about Kiwis is that we don’t easily chuck stuff away,” Mr Dench notes. “Out on the farm it’s common to recycle stuff, or convert it for another use.”

The men are always keen for more machinery, and more people to join them. “It's just nice to save it from destruction because once it's gone, it's gone forever. And it’s great to just be able to get together with like-minded people to talk about what stuff they have and what’s being done with it."

Murray Meads, chairman of the Manawatu Consortium hosting the Royal A and P Show New Zealand, says the club’s involvement synchs neatly into a showcase of all that is great about heartland New Zealand, with emphasis on equestrian, agricultural and horticultural excellence, that will provide a massive boost to the region’s economy.

“The Royal A and P Show New Zealand is where the very best that country New Zealand has to offer is on display and judged. It is an event of significant magnitude, in terms of crowd size, financial impact and competitor involvement.

“Manawatu is fast becoming the agricultural hub of New Zealand and the Royal A and P Show New Zealand, which returns here after an 11 year hiatus, will combine elite agricultural competition with entertainment and commercial exhibition.”

The region’s host rights, which continue into 2014, are entrusted to a combined effort involving Manfeild Park Trust, the Manawatu West Coast Agricultural and Pastoral Association, the Feilding Industrial Agricultural and Pastoral Association and Park-based PBBnz (Performance Beef Breeders New Zealand), which runs the hugely-successful annual New Zealand Beef Expo at Manfeild Stadium.

For more information contact: Murray Meads ph 0275 530 113 or

Or

Manawatu Vintage Machinery Club contact: Alan Hutchinson 06 3268529