ONCE a broken down tractor left bogged in the bottom of a dam, Koraleigh farmer Chris Hoare’s Chamberlain 9G is now a fully functional piece of history – just one of many that will be on display at the Speewa Heritage Collectors Club Annual Rally this weekend.
This will be the collectors club’s tenth rally, and first since 2019. Collector club publicist Alison Gibson says the club has been a bit disconnected because of COVID over the past few years, and she is looking forward to reconnecting with other like-minded people.
“It’s a display of collections, but it is also a get together,” Ms Gibson said.
“There are people that follow that sort of thing from all around … last time we had people from Warrnambool and Gippsland come, and more than 1000 people there all up.”
There will be a range of vintage items on display at the rally, including steam engines, cars, motorbikes, generators, stationary engines and tractors such as Mr Hoare’s Chamberlain 9G, which he and his son Brian restored to working order 10 years ago.
“We towed it home because the motor was seized,” Mr Hoare said. “We took the head off, filled the pots up with diesel and left it for about a month, and then we jacked up the back wheel and put it in low gear and got it rocking and turned over, and we put the head back on and away it went.
“We had the bumper bar made up in the original pattern, and the canvas hood has been made up and put back on it.”
The Speewa Heritage Collectors Club Annual Rally is on over August 27 and 28 at the Speewa Hall at 502 Speewa Punt Road Speewa. Entry is $5, while children under 14 are free. Food and refreshments will be available throughout the weekend, and exhibitors have access to free camping and a free meal on Saturday evening.
If you have got something you would like to see on display at the rally this weekend or to find out more, visit the Speewa Heritage Collectors Club Inc Facebook page, or contact Alison Gibson on 0448376977.
