A Golden Harvest

The launch of Leyland’s Golden Harvest tractors took place at the Royal Smithfield Show in London, 1980. This new range replaced the two-tone blue and silver Synchro models that had evolved over an 11-year production run that first started in 1969.

Eight new models were available, with all but the least powerful built at the company’s Bathgate factory in Scotland. The two smallest models were the 154’s replacement – the 302, built in Turkey and powered by the company’s 1.8 TD engine, and the 502 – the successor to the 245 that was powered by the three-cylinder Pekins D3.152 engine, generating 45hp.

The remaining models used the Leyland 4/98 four-cylinder engine in either de-rated form (DT), normal or naturally-aspirated guise (NT) or turbocharged form (TT). The 602 and 604 were rated at 62hp, using the DT engine, and replaced the 262 and 462, while the 272 and 472 were replaced by the 72hp 702 and 704 – using the NT engine. The 802 and 804, powered by the 82hp TT engine, replaced the 282 and 482.

Leyland gave these tractors the official title of the ‘Golden Harvest’ range, due to the tractors’ striking livery, but to understand the significance of the models and the part they played in Leyland tractor production, it is necessary to look back at the tractors produced at the Bathgate factory, the turbulent times and the company’s financial position leading up to the launch of the new tractors at the Smithfield Show in 1980.

At this time the viability of tractor production at Bathgate hung in the balance, with warning signs and red flags evident. In 1979, three major blows in the production of tractors arose at the Bathgate plant. Firstly, production of the 154 was transferred from Scotland to a subsidiary company in Turkey.

The unions on behalf of the workforce demanded that Leyland could not sell the Turkish-built 154 in the UK and this resulted in the company