A 114-year-old piece of farm machinery has been restored and placed in the Forbes and District Historical Society Museum.
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Museum president Bruce Adams said the group was extremely proud to have restored a rare and historic Ivel tractor, a project that took 18 months.
“It’s all been quite successful, we’re very pleased with what we’ve achieved,” he said.
$18,000 was invested into the Ivel Tractor, which had been worked in Gooloogong as a pump engine right up until the 1950’s but came to the Museum in disrepair.
“A lot of the parts had been stolen off it, all the brass bits had been stolen and sold and we just dismantled it completely,” Mr Adams said.
“We had parts made locally and some parts made in the UK and it’s all in running order again, you can drive it around.”
Mr Adams described the Ivel’s importance as the first successful agricultural tractor.
“There was a very important productivity increase because they had nothing to replace the horses. It was reliable and it was smaller, the ones before were great big things,” he said.
The Forbes Ivel is now on display in a custom-made glass cabinet at the Forbes and District Historical Society Museum.
Developed in 1903 by English inventor, Dan Albone, 800 of the three-wheel gasoline farm tractors were produced and exported across the world.
Only seven have been recorded to still exist.
- Ivel Un-numbered at the Science Museum, London.
- Ivel 131 John Moffitt
- Ivel 141 Mutare Museum, Zimbabwe
- Ivel 258 Aluarp Museum, Sweden
- Ivel 269 Norm McKenzie of Cumnock, Australia
- Ivel 277 Forbes Historical Museum, Adelaide
- Ivel 352 John Illingworth, Western Australia
According to Graeme R. Quick’s book, Australian Tractors: Indigenous Tractors and Self-propelled Machines in Rural Australia, “The Ivel Agricultural Motor was Britain’s first tractor designed specifically to replace the draughthorse – a distinction that could not be given the steam engine.”
Australian Tractors also claims the Ivel to be the first internal combustion engine tractor to come to Australia.
In 1903, the sale price for the Ivel Tractor was £300 GBP, roughly £33,300 GBP in modern UK pounds.
In 2017, the historic Ivel Tractor is said to be worth around $300,000 AUD.
“It is an important part of our exhibit and we will be able to drive it now,” Mr Adams said.
“There are people from all over the world who are very interested in these sort of things.”
