KEY POINTS:
The farmer who scooped his neighbour up in the bucket of his tractor is appealing his conviction in a case that centres on a long-running feud.
Things have got so bad between the victim, a woman horse breeder, and Carl Randall Martin, the farmer convicted of assault with a weapon, that she and her partner are selling their property, which borders Martin's.
The scene is an area of remote, rolling hill country at Wairamarama, south of Pukekohe.
The victim has padlocked her gates and has a sign warning visitors that they are welcome "by appointment only".
One source says the parties have been at loggerheads for years and the tractor event is just part of the story.
They began fighting over a boundary fence and loose stock. "That was just the start of it," says an un-named neighbour.
"It is just a clash of personalities. The pair just don't get on. They are like petrol and matches."
In the Manukau District Court, Judge Blackie found Martin guilty of assault with a weapon. His sentencing was expected this week.
Earlier the court heard that on August 5 Martin saw his neighbour attempting to get her vehicle out of a ditch after crashing into a fence bordering his property. He told her that she had two minutes to remove her vehicle before he would remove it for her. The victim went for help, but when she returned heard Martin's tractor.
He drove at her at about 30km/h, then reversed 10m.
He repeated it several times before picking her up and dumping her on the road.
