Machinery, memories and community...

Castlerahan Vintage Club Big Field Day (A82 Y4T2) takes place Sunday, August 30, with a packed programme of vintage machinery, tractors, classic cars, trucks, live entertainment and family activities.

For club chairperson Michael McGinn, the event is about more than machinery.

Michael’s own pride and joy is a Massey Ferguson 135. “I’ve never let it go and never will!”

The reason is personal. His father, also Michael, drove the tractor, and Michael remembers travelling on it as a child.

“One time he actually drove the whole way to Cavan to get new tyres put on the back of it. I stood on the second step, all the way and back up.”

Vintage Club members recently pooled their time, knowledge and parts to restore a Ford 3600 to full working order. The 10-week project involved help from the wider vintage community, including Sean Curran of Kells, in sourcing parts.

The tractor is now being raffled off, with proceeds supporting ASD units at national schools in Castlerahan and Muterconnaught, specialist equipment for children at the Holy Family School in Cootehill and other good causes.

One of the more unusual attractions will be the tractor balancing competition, in which a tractor is driven onto a seesaw and carefully balanced before being brought safely down the other side.

“We wanted to bring it back. It draws a great crowd,” Michael says.

Another new attraction is a live tractor dynamometer, hosted by Crossdoney Tractor Engineering.