Fifty Years of Farm Tractors  
Hardback book , 246 x 189 mm, 256 pages, inc 320 illustrations
Brian Bell  
Published 1999
 
Price £19.95  
ISBN 0-85236-525-X

Going A-Z by manufacturer, this book describes the host of tractor models used on British farms since the end of the Second World War. It includes machines produced before 1945 but still in common use and it also shows a wide range of imported marques.
The most obvious development over the period has been the growth in tractor power, from an average 25 hp in the 1940s to an average of 110 hp in the late 1990s. Four-wheel drive, once the exception, has become the norm and in-cab computers have taken control of some of the functions that used to be the driver’s responsibility.
Famous names in the tractor world have disappeared since the mid 1970s while others have merged to form world-wide organisations. One of the pleasures of Brian Bell’s book is to browse through and see just what a wide range of manufacturers and machines there have been during this golden age of the farm tractor.

 
Fifty Years of Farm Tractors - Brian Bell
  The Bray Four 4/65, with power-assisted steering, front diff-lock and self-energising disc brakes, was introduced in 1967.
The Series II Mk 1 Trantor made its debut at the 1983 Smithfield Show.
 
  The 75 hp Valmet 702, which superseded the 700 in 1972, had a hydraulically operated clutch and braking system controlled with suspended pedals in the ‘quietest cab yet made’.