Running a runabout

Tim James is a building contractor from Blandford, Dorset, with a penchant for tractors with a local history. These include an unusual International 956XL, often referred to as a ‘Rallye’ edition, and an aptly-named Massey Ferguson 135 ‘Flamingo’ conversion – used for crop spraying on a nearby estate.

Both of the aforementioned tractors have featured in T&M, but one of Tim’s other prized machines is an International 374, which filled a gap at the 50th anniversary Great Dorset Steam Fair when the organisers were struggling to find a tractor from 1977.

This particular 374 was first registered on 14 April 1977 and supplied by the renowned dealer Lott & Walne Ltd. of Dorchester to a small farm near Tim’s present home. “I understand this was what we would now term an ‘old-fashioned farm’, with around 20 cows, in Stoke Wake, near Bulbarrow Hill,” explained Tim. “The 374 was supplied with a loader and used for mucking out the beef cattle with a manure fork attachment. The spool valve was also used to power a log splitter.

“The father then retired and let his daughter use the tractor on the farm until they traded it in for a New Holland tractor. I eventually purchased the 374 from C&O Tractors of Blandford in July 2015.”