By Sorrel Hoskin

Both Colin Honnor and his tractor are in retirement - but it could be argued that the Waitara farmer and his Chamberlain Champion 9G are more active than ever.

Colin collects and restores vintage tractors and he and wife Viv spend a good portion of each summer puttering around New Zealand's back roads on the Chamberlain 9G.

The couple's son Peter now runs the family farm, giving them more time to enjoy their shared passion for tractors.

As a "tractor wife" Viv has a "if you can't beat 'em join 'em" attitude to Colin and his collecting. "At least I know where he is and what he's spending money on - it could be fast women, gambling or drink!"

A treasure trove

Colin's interest in old tractors and farm machinery took off when the Taranaki Vintage Machinery Club was formed around 20 years ago. Since then his collection has grown to the point where he isn't sure exactly how many tractors there are. There are several in sheds, a row of half tractors in the paddock and bits and pieces in the "graveyard" down the driveway, but he reckons there might be around 30-40 of them all up so far.

Tractor parts in a paddock. Image: Puke Ariki.

Old tractors can be found in all sorts of places: clearing sales, rotting in roadside paddocks, hiding in hedges, slumbering in sheds… it's just a matter of keeping your eyes open, says Colin. Many farmers build up a relationship with their tractors so when it comes time to sell them they like to know they are going to a good home and not the scrap heap. "People know that they are being restored and that they will be looked after."

Not all the tractors loaded onto the back of a truck and taken back to the farm for restoration are recognisable as such. Many look like piles of rusting scrap. But Colin sees potential, strips it down, sandblasts, finds parts, panel beats and repaints until the tractor looks almost as good as new. He's self taught, welding, panel beating and tinkering with motors were skills he learnt growing up on the family farm.

One of the many tractor filled sheds on the Honnor farm.

A guided tour of several sheds dotted around the Honnors farm reveals a treasure trove of tractors in varying stages of repair. Farmalls line up next to Massey's and Fords. Colin reels off names and numbers from memory. "That's a body of a Ransom MG6, this is a Ford Major half track from Masterton used for driving over swampy ground, that's the Ford County Super x 4 - we bought it in 1971 and still use it on the farm, that's a rare John Deere BO from Hawke's Bay, and this one is the Nuffield Universal DM4 which has taken us up to North Cape and down to Bluff…"

Tractor trekking

The Nuffield is now in full retirement, replaced by the 1962 Chamberlain which was bought by an American friend in 2002. The tractor was kept in the Honnors shed and used by the American to trek around New Zealand on his holidays before  being sold to the Honnors. These days it spends its time puttering around the nation's back roads. Colin and Viv like nothing better than loading up the tractor, hitching on the 'pop top' caravan and setting off on a tractor trekking adventure in a convoy of vintage machinery  enthusiasts.

I've been everywhere man

Cruising along at an average speed of 27kmph (they go at the pace of the slowest tractor) may not be everyone's cup of tea - but the husband and wife are adamant it's a great way to really see the countryside. "We get to some great places, all over the country," says Colin, opening up a map of New Zealand covered in black squiggly lines - a record of the roads travelled. "There's only a little piece of New Zealand that we haven't seen from the seat of a tractor," he laughs.

They've travelled the length of the South Island, twice, roared slowly up Ninety Mile Beach; trundled the Forgotten World Highway, wound their way through Waikeremoana and explored the East Cape. Along the way they overnight at campgrounds, chat to the locals, meet up with fellow tractor enthusiasts, deal with breakdowns and downpours of rain. "It's a great way to see the countryside and you have got more time to look around There are a great group of people, and you never know who you might meet along the way. We have such fun!"

Trekking tales

The pair has many tales to tell of tractor trekking trips. There's the time they were heading up north, missed the turn off and found themselves on the Auckland motorway, puttering along at 27kmph. It wasn't long before the police turned up. "But they're all pretty good," says Viv. "He just told us to hop off at the next off ramp." That trip they went through 154 traffic lights taking the back way through the streets of the city.

On a trek down south, heading to the Cook Strait ferry, they were pulled over by a policeman on the Wellington motorway. "I thought here's a go," says Viv. "But he just asked us where we were headed and asked if he could come along!"

On their trek around the East Cape they stopped off at Wairoa School and took some of the disabled children for a ride "It made their day, it was just wonderful to see their faces."

Break downs are part and parcel of driving old tractors. On a trip through Waikeremoana the muffler fell off one of the tractors. "We didn't have to worry about warning traffic that day - you could hear us coming!" Luckily a fellow enthusiast lived nearby and could weld the exhaust back on.

Viv usually doesn't drive a tractor on the treks. She's the logistics person, ensuring the trip goes smoothly by warning traffic of the oncoming convoy, finding accommodation and food, even washing the clothes. "We've got this washing machine, it's a nice big white bucket. In the morning we put cold water, washing powder and the clothes in it, pop the lid on and tie the lot to the tow bar of the tractor." By lunchtime the clothes are jiggled around enough to be clean. Rinse water is added and the procedure repeated and by 4pm when the tractors pull over for the night the clothes are ready to be hung out to dry. "There's not much you can't do on a tractor!"

Trekking Waikaremoana. Image: Courtesy of the Honnor family.

Tractor collecting is in the Honnor family's blood. The couple's son Peter collects and restores tractors, and their young grandsons are beginning to restore small motors. "It's saving a little piece of agricultural history, these tractors helped break in New Zealand farm country. And it's just a fun thing to do."