It’s hard to imagine a more devoted vintage tractor enthusiast than Henry Pirie, who has spent almost half a century collecting and restoring his treasured vehicles.
The 84-year-old from Pitmedden, Aberdeenshire, currently owns 11 tractors, one of which sits in the Alford Heritage Centre.
One is “in a field somewhere” while the remaining nine are squeezed into his back garden like a farming version of Tetris.
Henry first shows us a collection of bygone farming implements.
“These are more than 100 years old,” he says, “they belonged to my father.
“My father was a farm worker. First, he was on horse and then moved on to tractors.
“Tractors were part of our growing up. I’ve been interested in them since I was a little boy.
“I was about four when I got to move a tractor between two sticks, or sheaves.
“There was always a problem when you were lifting sticks. Somebody had to jump on the tractor and move it. I got that job.
“I thought, oh this is the life for me!”
Henry says he used to sit in school bored, looking out the window and wonder what his dad was doing.
“The sun would be shining and he’d be away in the tractor and I was stuck in the school. Argh, what a sentence!”
“I would rush home and change my clothes and was away to see where he was.
“I would listen to see if I could hear the tractor and I would follow the tyre marks through the fields to find him.”
Henry would then be rewarded with a ride on the tractor with his dad.
“What a feeling!” Henry says, beaming.
Henry’s first tractor
“I got a tractor of my own in 1977. An old school friend was upgrading so I bought his old one and gave her a complete restoration.
The first tractor Henry introduces on our tour of his collection is a 1948 Ferguson.
His enthusiasm for the vintage machinery is infectious.
“It’s the same age as the one in the museum,” he says.
“It has a Ferguson tattie planter and an applicator to sow manure at the same time.
“My next one is also a 1949 Ferguson but with a loader. It was a one-owner machine and it came from Gight. It’s petrol and TVO, tractor vaporising oil.
“I bought these two in 1977 and 1978 so I’ve been at it a long time.”
It was the start of what would become a truly extensive collection.
So what why was it he made the decision to buy another tractor?
“Why? Because it was there. Oh dear, I couldn’t resist it.
“Behind that one is a 1950 David Brown. I bought that from a farm near Alford. It was an impulse buy.”
Is such an ‘impulse buy’ very expensive?
“At that time, no, but now, yes,” says Henry.
“That one was £145 and she was still being used, she wasn’t in the hedgerow or anything.
“Nowadays, in the same state, you’d be about £1,000 to £1,500.”
“They were never an investment, nothing could be further from my mind.
“I bought them just for fun. I took them to vintage rallies and they are great fun to drive.”
Enthusiasts also take part in road runs and ploughing matches.
An orange-coloured Fordson from 1940 is the oldest in the collection.
“I didn’t have a Fordson. She’s had a lot of owners. I bought her from a market gardener, Alec Gordon, in Danestone, Aberdeen.
“Next is the yellow Ferguson, the only one I have that runs just on petrol. She’s a 1953 so we are getting newer!”
Two of the tractors were bought from P&J adverts
Another is a Fordson Major from 1945.
“This is another Alford tractor. It was very interesting. She has an Aberdeen registration number as she was registered new by the Harper Motor Company as a demonstration model.
“A John Bews bought her. She had iron wheels – after the war rubber was very scarce.
“She was from a Press and Journal advert. The Davy Broon was from a P&J advert too.
“About two years ago, the grandson of the Harper Motor Company, Charlie Nichol, came out and had a run around the field with her. Oh, what a day he had.
“Next, the Cletrac is unusual as she’s American. Then there’s a Ford Fergie from 1942.
“A friend sourced it down in Perthshire. We picked her up near Alyth and she was restored at the turn of the century.
“I spent all of my working life as a mechanic repairing all sorts of machines, tractors, cars, lorries, all sorts of things.
Out of all his tractors, which make is Henry’s favourite?
Asked which brand is best, Henry says: “I’m biased but it’s Ferguson.”
Henry is a mine of information about his Irish namesake Henry George Ferguson, who also grew up on a farm and developed the three-point linkage system for hitching ploughs.
Ferguson collaborated with several manufacturers, including Henry Ford, with whom he made a handshake agreement in 1938.
However, Ford’s grandson voided that and a lawsuit followed, resulting in a $9 million out-of-court settlement.
Henry’s ‘newest’ tractor is a 1955 Ferguson.
“I got that from a friend who was downsizing. I felt sorry for the boy so in 1983 I bought five Fergusons at once.”
Asked how he managed to get them all home, Henry says: “We ran some of them. Me and my late wife, Annie, took one each. Some of the loons took the other ones.
“Another went on a trailer. But we made it. I still have two.”
Henry’s machines are also stars of the silver screen
Henry also had a 1949 Austin lorry.
“I’ve made the most money out of that one with filming. My son Gordon has it now.
“I did a lot of filming. One was a film in Gardenstown called Salt On Our Skin.
“We did Strathblair, the TV show, in the 1990s. Then three episodes of Doctor Finlay. I delivered to the butcher and later I was in the road squad repairing a burst main.
“In the third series, the tattie gatherers were causing a bit of friction and I was in the middle of that.”
Henry is a member of several tractor groups, including The Ferguson Club, and events are a chance for owners to showcase their machines.
Does he ever feel tempted to add to his collection?
“I’ve reached saturation point!” he laughs.
“I’ve been to six rallies this year, but I’ve cut well back.”
He admits that the car is more comfortable but his obsession with tractors is as strong as ever.
“There’s no known cure for it,” he says.
Read more: Meet the tractor buffs behind the Scottish Ploughing Championships.
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