The Fordson Tractor Pages Forum

In an effort to re-live the happy times of my youth... one of my bad habits, is occasionally buying old brochures or instruction books off ebay, for old machines I either used to own, or used while helping my neighbours or uncles.

So the latest - is the Blanch-Lely tedder...

I used one of these behind a 4000 or 135 on the farm where I worked as a youth; I also briefly had one of my own, and I also used my neighbour's Flying Pheasant (mounted - somewhat heavy for a 135, taught me a lot about working carefully on hills).
Another neighbour had a blue thing similar - Nicholson? - and as I remember, many people had the combination of a Pheasant for tedding, and an Acrobat for rowing-up. Each machine could do either job, but each was better at one job than the other. And the Haybob/Hayzip etc, when they came along, could do both.
I'll give you the first couple of pages - there is, of course, a Major featured

Hello Bob.

Does your name come from that little strip in the paper, of same name?....the one about the sheepdog?

My dad had a high opinion of the Cock Pheasant, though we never owned one. We had a Bamford "wuffler" and it did a decent job . When they came out, we got a PZ Haybob, and it was a grand machine I thought.
When we came to Canada in '84, it was back to wheel -rakes mainly, but I finally saved up and got a Kuhn 2 -wheel rotary rake, that worked more or less like the PZ.
Been a grand machine, and in 12 years have only broken 4 tines.

It runs a bit fast on the Fordson PM or FSM though, so I use it on a JD.
Grand picture there! I too like to gather/keep old brochures /manuals. Brings back memories of a saner age.... Life was Magic back then!