Impressive collection of old kit discovered (Part Two)

Tue 18 Mar 2014

Impressive collection of old kit discovered (Part Two)

I was guided around this collection by Mark Farwell’s son Matt, who was keen to show me some of the highlights of the collection. First machine to catch my eye was this iconic International “Drott” BTD-6 crawler loader, which, although looking a bit dusty, was in excellent condition for its age.

Just past a British manufactured Fowler FD3, we came across another British built classic in the form of this 1960’s Track Marshall 70, which was manufactured by Track Marshall, who were based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire.

This fine example of a small Cletrac tractor was manufactured by the Cleveland Tractor Company of Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A. This machine is actually up for sale if anyone fancies a bit of American tractor history.

No classic collection is complete without a small Caterpillar tractor, and in this case, it’s an ex-military Cat D4 model. There is plenty of work to be done on this machine by the look of it. Restoration work is something the Farwell family do to provide a breakaway from the pressures of running a modern plant hire fleet.

Just around the corner, we came across this fine Allis Chalmers HD15 Diesel tractor. Built between 1951 & 1955, this machine was powered by a six cylinder seven litre General Motors engine, which offered a rated power output of 82hp.

From the larger end of the Caterpillar tractor scale we see this example of the classic Cat D8H model. The D8H was first launched by Cat in 1958 as a 235hp tractor, engine power was increased to 270hp in 1965 and the popular model was eventually replaced by the 300hp D8K in 1974.

International’s competitor in the D8 size class was the BTD-20. This machine would have originally been built in Doncaster in the North of England and sported a Rolls-Royce 6 cylinder diesel engine. The BTD-20 was the British version of the American TD-20 model, which was first introduced in 1958 as a direct replacement for the outgoing TD-18. There have been a series of upgrades over the years since, and incredibly this model number is still being produced to this day, all be it in much more modern package and now under the Dressta banner in Poland.

The last of the tractor/dozers in the collection was this Fowler Challenger 33, which I believe was another ex-military machine. The Challenger 33 replaced the Challenger 3 model and competed in the D6 size class. Initially introduced towards the end of 1950, production ran through to the late 1960’s. Power came from a 125hp Leyland diesel engine.

Finally in this round up we see a classic road roller which is part of the Farwell’s steam traction engine collection. Sadly I have lost the information I took on this Marshall machine. I do however recall that it is a rare model which was purchased in France and is now the only one that exists in the UK.

We thank Matt Farwell for showing the Digger Man Blog around this stunning collection.

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