You first heard from me several years ago when I wrote about an R Model John Deere that I had restored for a family from North Star, NSW, while I was living at Goondiwindi, QLD. Following on from this restoration, I first heard the name Peter Sands from a gentleman in Goondiwindi that had heard I liked old John Deere tractors. 

Peter, and his wife Meryl, farmed in the Goondiwindi area after moving from Victoria in 1983, but they went on to sell this farm and purchase a rural property at Helidon, QLD, where they still reside. So, I had heard of him but I still had not met Peter when I responded to an ad in the Queensland Country Life, that was advertising a John Deere D for sale - the seller of the tractor turned out to be Peter Sands!

Peter and Meryl’s property had suffered major damage in the 11^th