Terry Hobart comes from a family of Fordson lovers.

He was brought up on a Whakamarama dairy, sheep and beef farm and his father, Rob, bought a new 1962 Fordson Super Major.

That particular machine is still in the family, with Terry’s brother Garth.

“I drove that tractor unsupervised from about the age of 12 and I loved the smell when it was started,” says Terry.

All rounder

Terry did an electrical apprenticeship, and had a varied working life. Well drilling, milk tanker driving, electrical foreman in an Australian nickel mine, and driving trucks.

“The tractor collecting started in the 1980s. I had returned to New Zealand and bought 25 acres which I planted with lemons, and later on kiwifruit.

“I was driving for Taylor Brothers and it was long hours and good money.”

He has eight tractors that are mainly Fords or Fordsons. He was introduced to the Tauranga Vintage Machinery Club in the mid-2000s by its former founder, the late Eric Green.

As he approached retirement, Terry wanted a Fordson Super Major like the one he grew up with.

He bought one that was originally from a farm in Whitianga, which his brother in law Ray had owned and it had been used to tow a boat for a few years.

“I bought it off him in 2018. It had been sitting outside but was very tidy and just needed a paint.”

The 1962 Fordson Super Major was identical to the one his father had. It would have been imported into New Zealand from the Ford factory in Dagenham, United Kingdom.

“They were general agricultural tractors and were considered big and powerful in their day. They were quite modern.”

Terry’s Fordson Super Major at his Katikati kiwifruit orchard.

The specs

The Super Major has a four cylinder, 52 HP diesel engine with six forward and two reverse gears. It has a Simms injection pump mounted to the side of the engine.

It boasted a diff lock and disc brakes. 

The Qualitrol hydraulic system that allows for both position control and draft control, and allowed it to compete with Ferguson tractors of the era.

Now retired and living in town, Terry has a quiet corner of his orchard, with a large shed full of tractors, a permanent caravan with a view and comes there for a night here and there with his wife to the peace of the countryside.

He’s also been known to hook up a mower to one of his tractors and do some mowing between the kiwifruit vines and the smell when the Super Major starts up still evokes childhood memories.

Fordson added the words Super Major to their classic logo.

Super Major engine with Simms injection pump.