On Saturday, 9th, and Sunday, 10th March 2013, a group of heritage baler enthusiasts converged on Goorambat, a small town about 20 kilometres north west of Benalla, Victoria. This heritage hay baler weekend has evolved through the hard work and endeavour of Murray Stokes, a retired school teacher, baler restorer, and all-round good bloke! In the corner of a paddock covered with stubble, 40 heritage balers were lined up, some in their working clothes, others carefully restored; 24 of these were owned by Murray, who was also the host for the day.
There were six painted in Cliff & Bunting red, however Twin City, Massey Harris, John Deere, Allis Chalmers, Case, Ferguson, David Brown, Claas, International Harvester, Gibbins, Narmbool, Mitchell and New Holland were also represented.
Murray has collected and restored a number of Cliff & Bunting balers over the past few years, including a #32 automatic twine tie stationary, a #14 pick-up wire tie, a #16 pick-up wire tie; a #21 automatic twine tie pick-up, a #22 automatic twine tie pick-up, and a #24 pick-up twine tie.
To add to the weekend, four members of the Cliff family were in attendance, who were thrilled to see the machinery that bore their family name, in action.
On the Saturday night, the celebration continued, with 90 people sitting down to a sumptuous two course dinner. The Goorambat Hall was set up with displays around the walls, which depicted the development of balers over the past 100 or so years.
This event was not publicised in any way other than by word of mouth, yet still, around 250 to 300 attended this celebration of baling history. Some of the old machines did not work as well as was hoped but, with dry wheaten straw, and knotters not having been turned over for many years, everything went as well as could be expected.
Another feature of the event, was the static display of Bruce Parris’ modified Cliff & Bunting wire tie baler. For more history on this baler, please refer to The Old Machinery Magazine, (issue #161, pages 38 and 39).
In front of the pick-up photo (at left), is Mr Bruce Parris (owner of the baler and tractor) and, on the left, is Mr Cliff Higgins, a long-time employee (over thirty years) of F.W. Parris & Sons. It is interesting to note that Cliff drove this tractor from Melbourne to Nagambie, long before the freeway, in 1945, when he was just 17 years old!
Although the planning for the weekend was the brainchild of Murray Stokes, there were others that assisted. It would be remiss of me not to mention the nearby Warby Engine Club Inc., a solid band of collectors and restorers, who willingly offered tractors to pull Murray’s balers along.
Some of the club members also brought along heritage balers to add to the day, with great results. Although obviously in their working clothes, both of these machines performed well.
Other people who must be mentioned are Neil Feldtmann, who generously made his paddock of wheat stubble available, and organised for it to be windrowed so that the weekend could take place, and Bill Meikle, who inspired Murray to organise the weekend, by helping out with restoration work in whatever way possible, especially his engineering skills.
In conclusion, thank you Murray Stokes, for the concept of this ‘Heritage Baler Weekend’. The event was well received by all who attended, and the balers, from the oldest stationary manual feed models up to the more modern
self-propelled machines, performed well. The weekend felt different to the usual vintage machinery rally. Murray described it as, “Being more of a celebration of the development of farm machinery rather than a display of older machinery”. Words we could all ponder.
Murray has spent many hours, over a number of years, researching, collecting and restoring these machines, for which he has an obvious passion.
When pressed as to when he would hold the next ‘Heritage Baler Weekend’, Murray was understandably evasive. This weekend had taken its toll on his time and his wallet, so he feels that once in a lifetime might be enough. Then again, maybe he could be persuaded, with a little more assistance? Time will tell. *Ken Bock
