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Post by Deleted on Sept 20, 2008 9:58:02 GMT
I have just found this website, www.netcomuk.co.uk/~jrcoles/tracpict.htmlAn early and probably the biggest Rotavator, the Fowler Gyrotiller. Its a bit bigger than my Mantis electric tiller. I saw one of these working in 1936, the firm I worked for in the late 1940's owned the yard where Fowler's serviced these monsters. The engine weighed ten tons and the twin cylinder blocks (three of them) weighed two tons each. The piston's were the size of galvanised dustbins. I understand that they were ship's diesel engines. The one I saw in 1936 shook the ground as it moved along the road. The tines were about 30 inches long (working length) mounted on large horizontal wheels which were lifted on a giant hinge when turning on the headland. |
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Post by Tig on Sept 20, 2008 19:52:04 GMT
What a wonderful beast of a machine!
I can't ever recall seeing anything like that working the land when I was a girl, but that was quite some time after 1936 ;D
Tig
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Post by Shrubrose on Sept 21, 2008 7:23:06 GMT
Could do with that monster here Larkshall - it'd make short shrift of the clay. What a grand machine  |
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Post by oldmoleskins on Sept 21, 2008 8:00:15 GMT
Coo... I saw one at the Stourpaine rally in nineteenhundred-and-frozen-to death - it was a staggering bit of kit...
I seem to remember it had a notice on it saying how it was most recently used for clearing heathland of gorse and brambles - I guess it would usefully rip them up by the roots and make a better, more permanent clearance than burning off.
Thanks for that, Larkshall.
OM.
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