Field day harvest history for NSW next month

ORGANISERS of a special harvest event in southern NSW  are hopeful of kind conditions for some old-time farmers and old-time equipment.

Kerry

WHILE there is always the danger of a fire ban or high-fire danger day derailing a harvest, organisers of a special harvest event in southern NSW next month are hopeful of kind conditions for some old-time farmers and old-time equipment.

A vintage machinery harvest at Kerry and Jan Pietsch's property at Pleasant Hills, near Henty, will feature dozens of horse and tractor-drawn harvesters as they strive to bring in a heritage variety of wheat sown especially for the event.

The harvest day is on February 9, the day after the Henty agricultural show, which is marking the centenary of the Headlie Taylor header design.

One of the Headlie Taylor headers, which is usually kept in a museum on the Olympic Way in Henty, will harvest on the property called Warrangong.

Mrs Pietsch said it would be a one-off event and there would not be too much stress put on the old machines.

"They won't have a chance to get too hot.

"Each machine will only be working for 20 minutes or so," she said.

The event is jointly organised with the Warrangong Heritage Collection Inc.

Machines on show include harvesters, winnowers, threshers, strippers, binders, chaff cutters and tractors.

Mr Pietsch sowed 15ha of heritage wheat variety Olympic earlier this year, using a 1950s crawler tractor and 1970 24-row Massey Ferguson combine.

His collection of harvest equipment includes a horse-drawn 1907 Sunshine harvester with a 6ft comb, a Claas 79 and fully restored harvester from US manufacturer Cockshutt, a 1920 Sunshine header, self-propelled Horwood Bagshaw harvester, John Deere 42, Oliver, Allis Chalmers All Crop, Case 600 and PTO Claas Super 500.

A stripper dating back to the 1890s will also be working on the day.

The gates open at 8am and demonstrations, including scythe cutting and hand threshing, start at 9am. The crop will be cut and sheaves made with a horse-drawn binder.

Horse-drawn equipment will rake hay and there will be large threshing machines and balers working in the morning, before the harvesters begin their work in the afternoon.

"This day will be very special as 95 per cent of young people have never seen any of these headers operating," Mr Pietsch said.

"They only ever see modern machinery with airconditioned cabins.

"On these old machines you are sitting out in the dust, chaff and hot sun.

"Most of these old headers will only ever sit in machinery sheds.

"It is rare to see them operating and it will be a once-in-a-lifetime event to have so many together in the one crop."

• For details phone Jan Pietsch on [phone] or email [e-mail]