Sunshine Harvester Corn Sheller - 29 January 2006
2006 promises
to be a good year - at least it has started off well. Firstly the
little Alfa Laval badged Ronaldson & Tippet Model "N" which Reg
Ingold organised for
me arrived about 2 weeks ago and today I collected a Sunshine Harvester
corn sheller which a fellow club member gave to me.
I have been aware of this machine for about the last 9 months and approached it's owner Ben Scheepers (it has been in his family for it's entire life) about it in November. At that stage he was considering donating it to the (our) club. In my books that would have been an entirely accepteable thing to do and I stepped back, thinking that another one would arrive in due course (with my name on it).
Well our club had a small "get together" yesterday and to my surprise Ben came to me and said that I should come and collect the machine as the club already had one and had recommended that he give it to me as I would do a good job of the restoration. (Thanks guys - I really hope that I can live up to your expectations).
Ben is a mielie farmer ("mielie" = corn or maize to most of you guys in the rest of the world) and has an annual "mielie run" where he keeps back a small portion of the crop and all of us "old iron" guys arrive with vintage tractors and trailers, trucks and suchlike and transport these last few bags to the local co-operative silos (a run of approximately 12 miles there and 12 back). It is a really nice outing and a copious amount of beer is consumed along the way. It is quite amazing when studying the figures to find out that the old engine guys's fuel consumption figures are so much higher than the old machines themselves. :-)
Anyway, back to the "Sunshine". These machines were made in Australia by H.V.McKay's Sunshine Harvester Works of Sunshine, Victoria. This later became H.V.McKay Massey Harris (Pty) Ltd. and it is in this time that mine was manufactured as it is finished in the Massey Haris red with yellow wheels. Malcomess Limited were the South African distributors of the McKay Massey Harris equipment and a family connection here is that my elder brother worked as a salesman for Malcomess Limited during the early 1970's.
I also own a very sad looking Massey Harris Pony (1949) that is in desperate need of restoration and one day it and the Sunshine will make a good display.
Some Sunshine Harvester Literature
I have been aware of this machine for about the last 9 months and approached it's owner Ben Scheepers (it has been in his family for it's entire life) about it in November. At that stage he was considering donating it to the (our) club. In my books that would have been an entirely accepteable thing to do and I stepped back, thinking that another one would arrive in due course (with my name on it).
Well our club had a small "get together" yesterday and to my surprise Ben came to me and said that I should come and collect the machine as the club already had one and had recommended that he give it to me as I would do a good job of the restoration. (Thanks guys - I really hope that I can live up to your expectations).
Ben is a mielie farmer ("mielie" = corn or maize to most of you guys in the rest of the world) and has an annual "mielie run" where he keeps back a small portion of the crop and all of us "old iron" guys arrive with vintage tractors and trailers, trucks and suchlike and transport these last few bags to the local co-operative silos (a run of approximately 12 miles there and 12 back). It is a really nice outing and a copious amount of beer is consumed along the way. It is quite amazing when studying the figures to find out that the old engine guys's fuel consumption figures are so much higher than the old machines themselves. :-)
Anyway, back to the "Sunshine". These machines were made in Australia by H.V.McKay's Sunshine Harvester Works of Sunshine, Victoria. This later became H.V.McKay Massey Harris (Pty) Ltd. and it is in this time that mine was manufactured as it is finished in the Massey Haris red with yellow wheels. Malcomess Limited were the South African distributors of the McKay Massey Harris equipment and a family connection here is that my elder brother worked as a salesman for Malcomess Limited during the early 1970's.
I also own a very sad looking Massey Harris Pony (1949) that is in desperate need of restoration and one day it and the Sunshine will make a good display.
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Some Sunshine Harvester Literature
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