Any ideas?

Keith Webb · #1 30-03-06, 08:38

This may not be military, but the owner is curious as to what application this International Harvester back end may have had...

The wheels are the curious part.

Tony Smith · #2 30-03-06, 09:04

Ooh! You've been pre-Auction peeking! What have you put to one side?

Keith Webb · #3 30-03-06, 09:52

Was this an educated guess?

Indeed I have been there, but doing some interesting things, or at least I hope they're interesting to all here.

My plan is to document the collection in stills and video in as great a detail as time permits before the auction. Today I was shooting stills, several hundred of them to show how it was before it is scattered to the winds.

Next week I'll be visiting again to do a walk-around with John, with him telling us about each artifact, it's discovery, restoration and significance.

John is now 75, and is quietly resigned to the inevitability of the process. One of the more significant items is his Tilly, which is where it all started for he and his wife Pat... it was their only form of transport 50 years ago.

John really doesn't have too much time to spend with people wanting a look... after all there are still a lot of projects on the slate. The 6 pounder he bought at Corowa is now well on the way to becoming a complete gun again. I found John in the workshop putting a $14 angle grinder with a wire brush to the test on bits of the 6 pounder... then there's an F15 for ANZAC Day, followed by the Rover armoured car... then ...well there's a whole paddock full of interesting projects. I can't wait to put the DVD on the collection together - it will be a really interesting program, although bittersweet too.

As for the stuff in the auction, I'll put some pictures on the site shortly so you can have a better look at them. And no, there will be no prior offers accepted.

Lynn Eades · #4 30-03-06, 10:58

That looks like an LP2 carrier hub/axle in the bottom of the photo,wouldnt have a clue about the wheels in question though.

Keith Webb · #5 30-03-06, 11:12

Quote:

That looks like an LP2 carrier hub/axle in the bottom of the photo,wouldnt have a clue about the wheels in question though.

Yes, you're right about the hub... anyone else with any ideas? Looks pretty agricultural.

Tony Smith · #6 30-03-06, 12:12

Quote:

Originally posted by Keith Webb
Was this an educated guess?

Indeed I have been there, but doing some interesting things, or at least I hope they're interesting to all here.

No guess, I have a mind like a camera and have itemised all the bits in the paddock.

This pile is right down the far end of the paddock and where I finished up at the end of a long day of looking. In fact, it was right near that spot that I was startled by a snake, so I called an end to the day.

Quote:

Originally posted by Keith Webb

Yes, you're right about the hub... anyone else with any ideas? Looks pretty agricultural.

My guess would be an IH tractor of one type or another. I'll go through some back issues of TOMM to try identify it. I'd wager that under the solid rubber tyres there are steel cleats, and these wheels would have been modified for a contractor or possibly a council to use a Ag Tractor on paved streets, or even playing fields.

Pete Ashby · #7 30-03-06, 22:53

Quote:

Originally posted by Tony Smith
[B] In fact, it was right near that spot that I was startled by a snake, so I called an end to the day./B]

How can you Guy's do that? go to a sale and see a bloody great snake Jees I'd die on the spot, we have snakes at sales in the UK but they have two legs and are less deadly

Pete

PS wheels look a bit Fordish ? snakes Ugh

Col Tigwell · #8 30-03-06, 23:26

I think that what John has done is a great concept (must have a understanding lady). I suspect countless hours, gathering up all this gear, knowing full well that he personally would never have enough time, to restore it all.

But what he did a achieve, was to stop it being reduced to scrap.

So that eventually it would be saved, and we have legacy to show the grandkids, and our history is not reduced to just photos.

I hope that at the sale, John gets what he wants, and that this gear goes to good homes.

I know a guy near Sydney, who has saved about 50 pre war tractors, most now run, and I have helped him with some. A lot of hard work, but when you have people come from around the world, to see two old pre 1918 IH tractors working, it makes it all worth while.

As I said before, I wonder how many items John has saved, I dips me lid to him, and I hope he recovers some of the money he has spent over the years.

Regards

Col Tigwell
Downunder

Keith Webb · #9 31-03-06, 00:11

Quote:

In fact, it was right near that spot that I was startled by a snake, so I called an end to the day.

Tony, please be more manly in future.

Obviously if there had been something really worthwhile in there I'm sure a little hissing reptile wouldn't put you off.

And Col, I heartily agree with your sentiments - I think what John has done is nothing short of remarkable, and the fact he's set it up as a museum at great personal cost just to ensure the our history remains alive is a huge credit to him.

There should be a sign at the gate on auction day barring scrappies from entering. The ultimate irony would be for things John saved from being scrapped in 1960 because of their intrinsic value to be scrapped now.