Are Ploughing Matches Under Threat?

wuddy

Member
Location
Scottish Borders
Tell me. If your down the pub, and your mate gets you a pint, would you be happy if the barman drank a quarter of it, before handing it over? I presume so, as that the same principle that trophy engraving enjoys!
Still, if you go to South Berks, and I believe FFF&B they still give you all the award and dont pinch a bit of your prize money! If a winner has a long name, the man in second does better out of the match than he does!
Surely nobody goes to ploughing matches for the prize money. I might be quite sad but I like to read the names on the trophy’s and when i started to get my name on a few beside ploughers I had been chasing for 7 or 8 years from when I started it is a nice feeling and a fiver for engraving is hardly breaking the bank! Once your name is on the cup it will always be there. Apart from the ploughman himself very few people will remember who finished second!
 

Ley253

Member
Location
Bath
Surely nobody goes to ploughing matches for the prize money. I might be quite sad but I like to read the names on the trophy’s and when i started to get my name on a few beside ploughers I had been chasing for 7 or 8 years from when I started it is a nice feeling and a fiver for engraving is hardly breaking the bank! Once your name is on the cup it will always be there. Apart from the ploughman himself very few people will remember who finished second!
Five? If only! More like £20 in some areas! One man found it cheaper to get his own engraving machine!
Still, its the principle, not the amount. If you won a car in a raffle, would you be happy if they took a wheel off before it was given to you? Thats what is happening. I seem to be a voice crying in the wilderness, but I can assure people on here that out on the plots there is a growing groundswell of discontent with ever rising entry fees, and the imposition of engraving costs, while the once free seated meal has become a ticket for the burger van!(and that not always!)
 

Ley253

Member
Location
Bath
no but you would have to pay for the number plates and register it with dvla
No. it would come ready for the road, all that would be required was the change of owner, and we sorted that out in the showroom. Oh and it had a full tank as well. I know it was only a triumph stag, but you did get all of your prize!
 

Pennine Ploughing

Member
Mixed Farmer
Look Harry, I dont know if you find this some sort of a game your playing on here,
but it seems that nothing pleases you, and you seem to want to find fault with everything,
and come across as dont like how matches are put on, yet wont help in putting them on, is this because your as awkward with them putting then on, that they dont want you or your help,

just chill out and take a step back, read through your posts,

it a hobby after all, and try to enjoy it
 

Roy Stokes

Member
Location
East Shropshire
before you become a lonely and bitter old man ,

:mad:....................................................:whistle:

You have proved there is no real need for a special class, so why does it exist?

Because there is a demand for it, and very successful it has been, give the top half of the Fergy or David Brown class your kit for a day or 2 Harry, they will get it going properly for you, sort out the TCN /RWM pairing problem it has

I seem to be a voice crying in the wilderness,

Very true, and you won't change things by arguing for arguments sake, too many contradictions to make a decent case for change
 

wuddy

Member
Location
Scottish Borders
Five? If only! More like £20 in some areas! One man found it cheaper to get his own engraving machine!
Still, its the principle, not the amount. If you won a car in a raffle, would you be happy if they took a wheel off before it was given to you? Thats what is happening. I seem to be a voice crying in the wilderness, but I can assure people on here that out on the plots there is a growing groundswell of discontent with ever rising entry fees, and the imposition of engraving costs, while the once free seated meal has become a ticket for the burger van!(and that not always!)
Always been a ticket for burger van from when I started! That’s a ridiculous amount to pay for engraving the guy I use has went up from £3.50 to £5 in the last 15 years so I can see where your coming from about the cost. You will think we are really tight at our match as we don’t give prize money or pay for engraving ( we do hand out small trophies for 1st 2nd and 3rd in each class) we have never heard a complaint or had a trophy handed back not engraved. At the end of the day you do have the choice of not engraving the trophy you have won!
 

wuddy

Member
Location
Scottish Borders
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Were you the only one to make it to your plot? ( sorry was to good an opportunity to miss!)
Just back from Chertsey, entered into the Vintage Mounted as no Fergie Class and whooped all the blue boys, 1st on count back. Trailer chap won best plot of the day and I think I was 3rd. I guess it goes against tradition that grey can do better than blue in the right conditions. A very wet but fun day!
 

Ley253

Member
Location
Bath
Always been a ticket for burger van from when I started! That’s a ridiculous amount to pay for engraving the guy I use has went up from £3.50 to £5 in the last 15 years so I can see where your coming from about the cost. You will think we are really tight at our match as we don’t give prize money or pay for engraving ( we do hand out small trophies for 1st 2nd and 3rd in each class) we have never heard a complaint or had a trophy handed back not engraved. At the end of the day you do have the choice of not engraving the trophy you have won!
How things change. When I started there were no entry fees, and no classes for vintage kit either! Then we were asked for a couple of pounds, and classes were put in for us. I used to go to a lot of Hereford matches and every one had a seated cooked meal in the local village hall, and transport there and back if parking was tight. Some matches still keep up this tradition, Forest of Arden, Trumpet, Guildford, and Lichfield come to mind.
Returning to engraving, the last time I had one done it was £2 a letter or space, at a little shoe repairer, So £12 each trophy. he closed, and the next cheapest, a jeweller, wanted £4 per letter!
 

wuddy

Member
Location
Scottish Borders
How things change. When I started there were no entry fees, and no classes for vintage kit either! Then we were asked for a couple of pounds, and classes were put in for us. I used to go to a lot of Hereford matches and every one had a seated cooked meal in the local village hall, and transport there and back if parking was tight. Some matches still keep up this tradition, Forest of Arden, Trumpet, Guildford, and Lichfield come to mind.
Returning to engraving, the last time I had one done it was £2 a letter or space, at a little shoe repairer, So £12 each trophy. he closed, and the next cheapest, a jeweller, wanted £4 per letter!
There was no classic class around here when I started. I ploughed in the first six nations in Ireland and got taken for a sit down meal, felt very strange! The jeweller I use is just a set price for engraving and he usually gives me a bit off if I take a few in at once! I got four cups engraved and a base replaced on one for £26 last year probably why I am not bothered about engraving them myself.
 

Ley253

Member
Location
Bath
There was no classic class around here when I started. I ploughed in the first six nations in Ireland and got taken for a sit down meal, felt very strange! The jeweller I use is just a set price for engraving and he usually gives me a bit off if I take a few in at once! I got four cups engraved and a base replaced on one for £26 last year probably why I am not bothered about engraving them myself.
My living near two large towns full of the well off probably doesn`t help! Years ago, I wrote an article for Tractor and Farming Heritage, on how tractor enjoyment could be extended into the early winter by going to ploughing matches. One of the important items to be carried in the transport was soap and water, so that you could have clean hands for the meal.I mentioned that while lumps of dirt mattered little in the beef stew, they really spoilt the apple pie and cream!
 

Howard150

Member
Location
Yorkshire
The vintage classes are almost one make classes, take out the odd DB, Cockshutt or FH plough and it's a Ransomes class, and it's almost the KV class for World style, I don't see what the problem is

More than that Roy. Take the TS86’s out of the English Classic Class and there is very little left. I have ploughed in classes of 16 or 17 when there has been nothing else, the only variation being TCN or RWM.
Nothing much other than KV in our part of the world in World Style. Very rare that Fiskars is ever seen. At one time JJ Metcalf used them on an 86, Geoff Fretwell had them on a KV frame but changed to all KV when he bought Nick Davenport’s plough. Hats off to Tom Charlton. Still ploughing at 83 with Bonnings on an 86.
Problem? What problem!

Thats what is happening. I seem to be a voice crying in the wilderness, but I can assure people on here that out on the plots there is a growing groundswell of discontent with ever rising entry fees, and the imposition of engraving costs, while the once free seated meal has become a ticket for the burger van!(and that not always!)

Groundswell of discontent? more like a surfeit of malcontent and all from one source. You not having organised matches will not understand the breaking even bit. You have manifold and varying opinions Harry - from what you tell us on here all correct and well supported. About time we saw you out with a clipboard Aitch. Entry fee down by 100%. Cost to get there down by 70%, preparation time down by 100%, cost of engraving down 100% cost of Lunch down 100% and people tell us there’s no such thing as a free lunch!. Sounds like a sure fire winner for you Aitch - especially considering the dearth of judges and your occasional need on here to put the wronguns to rights. Get a clipboard Aitch. You might then find what a voice in the wilderness might well be like if you get the result wrong.
 
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Tonym

Member
Location
Shropshire
More than that Roy. Take the TS86’s out of the English Classic Class and there is very little left. I have ploughed in classes of 16 or 17 when there has been nothing else, the only variation being TCN or RWM.
Very rare that Fiskars is ever seen in a World Style Class in our part of the world. At one time JJ Metcalf used them on an 86, Geoff Fretwell had them on a KV frame but changed to all KV when he bought Nick Davenport’s plough. Hats off to Tom Charlton. Still ploughing at 83 with Bonnings on an 86.
Problem? What problem!


I would say there are probably more ts59 and ts59/86lookalikes in the classics than there are genuine ts86's but it is dominated by Ransomes. Most of the others are vintage ploughs that cannot plough vintage because their tractor is not eligible due to its age.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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