[SEL] touch paper/now Field Marshall tractors

[Jerry Evans]

At 06:00 PM 11/08/2009, you wrote:
>Sent: Tuesday, 11 August 2009 9:54 PM
>To: The SEL email discussion list
>Subject: Re: [SEL] O.T. Test now question about touch paper
>
>Just curious, how many people on this list actually have or had a Field
>Marshall?

Hi All,
I've never owned one but a good friend has 2 and I've (hand crank) started 
and driven one. They vibrate like hell, I tried to video from one but the 
"steady shot" on a Sony video camera is no match for a Field Marshall 
!!  Then there is THAT gearbox and shifting system ! They really have a lot 
of character and stories abound.
         One is that it was easier to park them a little way from the house 
(because of the noise) at the end of a days work and leave them running at 
an idle until the next day - at an idle they dig themselves into moist soil 
but the thinking was that it was easier to "dig them out" than to start 
them :-)
         They are probably also the slowest tractor on a road. I had to 
drive one back from a show - a mere 2 miles - I only got back to the 
parking about an hour after the other tractors!!
         Also, the exhaust sticks out of the top of the bonnet - an ideal 
position to poison the driver with carbon monoxide. Trust me, been there 
done that!
         They are big, noisy, cumbersome brutes - I love them. They were 
"copied" from the Bulldog Lanz when negotiations to produce the Lanz in 
Britain failed for some or other reason.
         Now to the "starting paper". Hatz Diesels also use a similar 
method of starting and their starting "papers" are still available and fit 
the Field Marshall (albeit quite expensive).
         The other method, as has been mentioned, is to make your own by 
soaking cloth or paper in saltpetre. My mate swears by using denim cloth 
(that old pair of jeans or Levis). Cigarette stubs also work but stop 
glowing pretty quickly once inserted.

         One last point - shotgun cartridges - these are specially prepared 
"blanks" - do not try putting a "buckshot" shell in - the result could be 
disastrous :-)

Keep the revs up (or down)
Jerry Evans
Near Johannesburg in Sunny South Africa.
Etched Brass Engine Plates made to order:
<www.oldengine.org/members/evans/plates/index.htm>