Barry Thomas has won a prize with Ol' Blue!

Post by **Oscar** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 6:57 am

With no small amount of pride I can announce that Barry Thomas has turned my old Dexta, Ol' Blue, into such a masterpiece that a prize has been awarded during a recent show! Here are some photos that Barry sent me - I'm sure he'll tell the accompanying story himself

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Congratulations, Barry! Excellent work!

Cheers!
Oscar

Pascal · Post by **Pascal** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 10:24 am

Congratulations!!

henk · Post by **henk** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 10:54 am

Congratulations Barry,

But also to you Oscar. You started the restauration.

Meanderer · Post by **Meanderer** » Wed Aug 12, 2009 9:30 am

Good on ya Barry! You've done us all proud.
It's nice seeing an attractive lady with her beautiful bonnet adorned with a ribbon

BarryT · Post by **BarryT** » Thu Aug 13, 2009 7:59 pm

Hi Guys,

Sorry for the delay in responding to Oscar's kind posting of my photos to the forum, been at another show since Tuesday morning.

I had no idea they were judging at this particular show but when I returned from lunch the Dexta was proudly exhibiting a fine rossette as pictured. She beat a very strong contingent of gray Fergusons T20s and Massey 35s as well as David Brown's, Nuffield (sorry Brian!!) Major's and a Ford 3000 as well as others. I was also given a very nice brass plaque sponsored by the Friends of Ferguson Heritage.

The Fordson F pictured was a very nice example and was best in show, but only just!! as a few hours previous it nearly fell off the truck while being unloaded. As it was being winched off the truck that was parked up on a side slope!! the steel wheels slid on the truck bed, the R/H front wheel went over the side and the tractor fell on to it's steering rod and luckily the winch held it at that position. As a bit of luck there was another exhibitor with a truck fitted with a Hiab crane and he was able to lift her back on without any damage, very lucky escape for this owner whom I though attempted a very foolish unload off a very servere side slope.

An added bonus for me would be a mention or at best a photo in the next Ferguson Heritage magazine??

All the best from a very proud Dexta owner.

Thanks Oscar.

Barry

Bensdexta · Post by **Bensdexta** » Thu Aug 13, 2009 10:14 pm

Oscar wrote:With no small amount of pride I can announce that Barry Thomas has turned my old Dexta, Ol' Blue, into such a masterpiece that a prize has been awarded during a recent show!

Barry,
What work have you done to the Dexta? Have you described it somewhere?
Many congrats on your prize - looks beautiful.
Ben

BarryT · Post by **BarryT** » Fri Aug 14, 2009 8:45 pm

Ben,

Oscar put in all the hard work on the mechanical restoration some years ago, I have not touched the engine but followed on with the cosmetic work. She looks and runs very nicely now.

Regards,

Ffergie Bach

P.S. the story of Brian fetching the Dexta from Holland with some photos is on this site.

Bensdexta · Post by **Bensdexta** » Fri Aug 14, 2009 11:25 pm

BarryT wrote:Oscar put in all the hard work on the mechanical restoration some years ago, I have not touched the engine but followed on with the cosmetic work. She looks and runs very nicely now.

Have you Anglicized her at all, eg the grills , or perhaps she had one of the passenger seats?
Looks great!

Ben

BarryT · Post by **BarryT** » Sat Aug 15, 2009 9:41 pm

Ben,

I had to agree to repaint the grills immediately or Brian would have chucked them over the side as he crossed the channel from Holland, they were well hidden when docking at Harwich. Seriously though I much prefer them blue.

Regards,

BarryT

Post by **Oscar** » Sun Aug 16, 2009 10:26 am

It's funny to note that while Barry restored her to beautiful perfection, from a historical sense he left it slightly inaccurate. Dexta's either had the single front-of-nose Dexta decal or dual the bonnet decals, not both. I put 'em all up there simply because I liked how it looked, and Barry left it like that. Based on the age of this Dexta, if memory serves me right then it should only have the front-of-nose decal.

Dandy Dave · Post by **Dandy Dave** » Sun Aug 16, 2009 12:34 pm

Oscar wrote:It's funny to note that while Barry restored her to beautiful perfection, from a historical sense he left it slightly inaccurate. Dexta's either had the single front-of-nose Dexta decal or dual the bonnet decals, not both. I put 'em all up there simply because I liked how it looked, and Barry left it like that. Based on the age of this Dexta, if memory serves me right then it should only have the front-of-nose decal.

LOL....

Kind of like my orange grills on my Power Major. They should be silver, but I like the way they look.

Congrats on getting a ribbon. The tractor looks beautiful.

Dandy Dave!

Bensdexta · Post by **Bensdexta** » Sun Aug 16, 2009 3:14 pm

Barry,
Have you repainted her? If so what prep did you do and what paint did you use?
All the best,
Ben

BarryT · Post by **BarryT** » Mon Aug 17, 2009 7:52 pm

Ben,

There was very little rust so prep was straight forward rubbing down and using Vapormatic undercoat and Empire Blue. The paint was a very good match to what Oscar used originally so parts of the tractor are still in the paint Oscar used some years ago.

Regards,

BarryT

Mark · Post by **Mark** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 5:52 am

She loooooooooooooooooks nice Barry. I still would like to sneak over and put the ploughs to her and get her feet dirty.

BarryT · Post by **BarryT** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 8:21 pm

Mark,

That may not be so far off!! I'm looking for a Ransomes Robin plough which would suit the Dexta. I was at a ploughing day last Sunday and while standing there watching I wished I could take part so who knows!! before long it might happen.

Regards,

BarryT

Post by **Oscar** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 9:54 am

That would be awesome, Barry!! Can't wait to see photos of that, if and when it happens!!

The Fordson Tractor Pages Forum

Barry Thomas has won a prize with Ol' Blue!

Barry Thomas has won a prize with Ol' Blue!

Re: Barry Thomas has won a prize with Ol' Blue!