Scrap turns into treasure for Tauranga club

Thirty years ago a club was founded by people widely regarded as nutters because they loved scavenging for machinery that most viewed as scrap.

Fast forward to 2018 and the sheds and barns of members of the Tauranga Vintage Machinery Club are glowing with gems of New Zealand's industrial antiquity.

President Larry Williams said three members had accumulated such large collections that they now operated private museums.

But they were the exceptions. Most members owned modest collections that covered a range of old treasures including tractors, stationary engines and milk separators.

The age of the membership reflected an era, not so long ago, when farmers were happy to quit their old machinery.

Williams said his father Rex, the co-founder of the club, got most of his old tractors for nothing.

''He would race around in his truck and bring them home.''

Pride of place in the Williams Family's private museum was a 1916 International Mogul tractor now worth an estimated $50,000 and one of only four left in the country.

The tractor was recovered in poor condition, leaving Larry the task of building a lot of parts from scratch - even travelling to the South Island to take photos and measure the parts of other Moguls.

It was typical of the labour of love that went into restoring vintage machines owned by club members, although he stressed there was no hard and fast rule that members had to own old gear.

''If you are interested in old machinery, then come along.''

Membership guaranteed a lot of entertaining days out, either viewing collections or travelling to shows outside the district. One of the highlights for the tractor owners' was the annual tractor trek around the backcountry of the Western Bay.

Another highlight was the club's annual Crank Up Day held yesterday on a member's property near Katikati. He specialised in bulldozers, including a huge D9.

Williams said he got involved in the club through his father who died late last year, leaving behind all sorts of stuff like household machinery, four Ford Model Ts and 20 tractors - mainly Fordsons.

''Most of the guys have a few stationary engines and some specialise.''

And there was no standing on ceremony in the club, with some real characters including ''Barefoot'', so named because the only time he wore shoes was to weddings and funerals.

Williams said another character was Des Farrelly who had a collection of Massey Ferguson tractors (Fergies) and 200 Triumph cars. ''He put a Triumph motor into a Fergie and called it Fergumph ... he does everything in as hard case way as he can.''

He said most members had tolerant wives. ''They find it hard to let things go - stuff might come in handy.''

The last 20 years had seen prices go up because vintage machinery was seldom found lying around under hedges any more, making it harder for younger guys to find machinery on the cheap.

''Thirty years ago it was just junk but people like Dad saw the value in it.''

Massey Fergusons from the 1950s and 1960s were fetching up to $4000 now whereas his father would have considered $200 as top dollar.

''Most people thought we were nutters bringing stuff home.''

But the ''nutters'' persisted and they now formed the nucleus of a club which Williams said was in good heart.

The other owners of private museums were Eric Green in Katikati and Morris McFall's collection of immaculately restored tractors at Mount Maunganui.

Tauranga Vintage Machinery Club
Membership: 60 members aged mid-50s to mid-80s
Meetings: Every third Monday at the vintage car clubrooms, Cliff Rd
Subs: $35 a year
Contact: Larry Williams 027 443 7151