Wayne Scholz drives a 1925 Sunshine Auto header at the Warrangong Vintage Harvest Day. Image Kim Woods
Vintage machinery enthusiasts were treated to one of the rarest sights in Australia last weekend when three Sunshine Auto headers dating from the 1920s were working together in a wheat crop at Pleasant Hills.
The three self-propelled headers were part of the extensive private collection amassed by retired farmer Kerry Pietsch, 78, and formed a highlight of the Warrangong Vintage Harvest Day on January 11.
Organised by Warrangong Heritage Collection Inc, the harvest day drew 1100 people from Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Queensland and around NSW to enjoy the spectacle of 10 vintage tractors and 27 vintage headers working in wheat crop.
The headers ranged from a horse drawn 1902 David Shearer Maker’s Mannum stripper up to the most modern, a 1980s New Holland TR 85 with a 20-foot front and used to harvest rice crops.
The luxury of the TR 85’s air-conditioned cab, 25-foot Connor Shea comb front and V8 Caterpillar 3208 175 horsepower engine illustrated how far technology and agricultural innovation had progressed across eight decades.
Two John Deere headers, including a 9860 STS with a 10.9m front, owned by local farmers Wayne Scholz and Tim McRae, provided a backdrop to the working vintage machines with their computer software, GPS and six-cylinder turbo charged engines.
The iconic brands featured included John Deere, Shearer, Sunshine, Robinson, Claas, Allis Chalmers, Massey Harris, Oliver, Cockshutt, Horwood Bagshaw, and International – either ground driven, PTO or self-propelled.
A 1980 John Deere 1051 PTO header, one of only 187 made in Australia, demonstrated the revolutionary detachable front, which in a smooth operation became a tow behind comb trailer.
The display was a follow up to a successful vintage harvest day Mr Pietsch had staged in 2014.
“I’ve got so many different sorts of headers including a big range of Sunshine models, so I decided to put the day on,” he said.
The Sunshine models included a 1928 Auto header with a 12 foot front, a 1925 Deluxe with automatic bag tip off and chaff catcher and 1925 Auto Header, also with a 12 foot front.
“I am game to say I am the only person in Australia with the three different Sunshine headers and all working. One has a Fordson motor and two speed gearbox while another has a 4 cylinder Wisconsin motor with a two speed gearbox while the third has a Wisconsin motor with a 3 speed gear box,” Mr Pietsch said.
“They haven’t got hydraulics so to lift the comb up and down, there is a shaft that runs back into a box and when you pull a lever, the comb goes up or down.
“My favourite is my dad Victor’s self-propelled Sunshine Auto. My great grandfather came across on wagons from Dimboola and drew a 5000 acre block at Urangeline East. They had horsedrawn headers, and my grandfather bought two Sunshine Auto headers from Melbourne, sending them by rail to the Urangeline East to siding accompanied by two mechanics.
“They reassembled the combs and drove those headers to the farm. People heard about it and came from everywhere in buggies and trucks to see these big headers working as most of the machines were only eight foot wide.”
The vintage harvest day was special for the wider Pietsch family with descendants bringing a large silver cup presented for the1955 Championship Field Wheat Competition – Riverina Division, won by E C (Clarrie) Pietsch, using one of the Sunshine headers on display and grown on Rosevale, Urangeline East.
Sixth generation farmer Peter Webster now lives on part of the original property in the house built by his grandfather, Clarrie Pietsch.
“It is amazing the time and effort Kerry puts into these headers and to have them out working. It’s keeping history alive,” Mr Webster said.
Contract fencer and former farmer Kevin Elphick, National Historical Machinery Association NSW state representative, was keen to see headers in action he had used himself – a Massey Ferguson 506 and International.
“This is a significant day as we just don’t see this anymore. Kerry is so passionate about his headers, and he likes to show them off while people just want to see them,” Mr Elphick said.
“It’s very important for the next generation to see this as they wouldn’t know how hard they worked back in the day, bagging the grain off by hand. I’ve used headers with no cabs and put up with the dust and chaff blowing in my face. It’s very rare to have this many headers in working condition.”
Osborne farmer David Schneider loved seeing the “old stuff” his father used to drive -PTO Horwood Bagshaw and an International A4 headers.
“We are all soft today. I drive a Case 2166 header with a 25-foot front. That little crop out there today you would whizz around there all morning and get half a box. The headers have certainly come a long way. The paddocks were smaller then of 20 to 40 acres and now there are thousands of acres in a single paddock,” Mr Schneider said.
“There are a lot of young blokes here checking things out. It’s good to see them here and how it used to be done.”
For Shepparton farmer Chris Calder, the day brought back memories of growing rice and wheat at Finley,
“This is a working demonstration – it is so different from going to a museum and seeing the machine parked there. You won’t see three Sunshine Auto headers working together anywhere else,” Mr Calder said.
“There’s nothing like being here in a crowd of other like-minded people. The atmosphere here is great.
“You can look at the million dollar machines sitting at the bottom of the paddock today but these were the machines that paved the way. Necessity was the mother of invention, and we can see it evolve here today.”
Travelling from Western Australia was Outback Truckers star and International tractor collector Peter Spurr, of Wagin.
“It’s very important to maintain the heritage as each generation goes through. I like machinery out working to keep those memories alive rather than sitting static in a museum,” Mr Spurr said.
“It’s important to get these machines out working, get young people involved and hopefully carry on for many years to come. “
The Warrangong Vintage Harvest Day was sponsored by Henty Machinery Field Days, Lockhart Shire Council, Scholz Bulk Haulage, Kotzur, DE Lieschke and Son, and Lieschke Transport and Excavations.