BOMBER TYRES IN THE BUSH

READER’S STORY

The years following the Second World War saw substantial progress in farm mechanisation in Australia. The last of the big horse teams were phased out as tractors became available. However, factories were set up for war production the same as they were in the UK and the US and there were waiting lists for motor vehicles and farm machinery.

Fresh start

Joe Rodgers and his two sons were farming at Brimpton Lake on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula. They had moved there in 1929 from the upper Eyre Peninsula as they were sick of droughts and started again on a raw scrub block, this time in a wetter district. The sons, Bruce and Ross, also acquired a block over the road. Some of this had been partly cleared then abandoned, so the mallee scrub rapidly grew again and was harder to clear again. There were up to 16 working horses, which required time and effort to maintain. Teams of 12 were used to pull a 20-row combine (seeder) or a 16-disc plough.

A McCormick Deering tractor had been ordered but nearly three years had passed, and it had not come. The International Harvester plant at Geelong in the state of Victoria was still gearing up