The David Brown 885 was always my favourite tractor as a teenager. Bought new by my Dad in 1974, it was perky, open-air and a doddle to drive with its optional-extra power-steering. The plucky little white tractor was a joy to drive, whether hauling (small) silage trailers in the never-ending summers of my youth, ploughing in the autumn, or dragging tanks of milk through the snow drifts in the winter.
Okay, that last example was hardly pleasant, but the location of the fuel tank above the engine kept the diesel warm enough to work!
Unfortunately, this is not the actual tractor of my youth. What a magnificent machine though. Everything about it was properly restored. We looked for a long time to find fault – and all we could see was the missing stabiliser location pins, the missing silencer, and the lack of the flimsy roof over the non-attached roll-frame.
Rather sadly, our old David Brown suffered a common dairy farm fate, “death by scraper duties”. For the last 20 years, my brother has abused the poor old machine twice a day in the cubicle house.
Eventually, the front wheel bearings collapsed. The wobbly front wheel forced a retirement. Although had my sibling realised that it would run on three wheels, he would be using it to this day!
Having rescued the David Brown from the impending scrapman, watch this space for the slow restoration of my beloved teenage memory!