Two of the self propelled Sunshine Auto headers, both dating from the 1920s, working in-crop. It was the first time in modern Australia three Sunshine headers had worked together.
Vintage machinery enthusiasts were treated to one of the rarest sights in Australia the weekend before last when three Sunshine Auto headers dating from the 1920s were working together in a wheat crop at Pleasant Hills.
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The three self-propelled headers were part of the extensive private collection amassed by retired farmer Kerry Pietsch, 78 and formed a highlight of the Warrangong Vintage Harvest Day on January 11.
Organised by Warrangong Heritage Collection Inc, the harvest day drew 1100 people from Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Queensland and around NSW to enjoy the spectacle of 10 vintage tractors and 27 vintage headers working in a wheat crop.
The headers ranged from a horse drawn 1902 David Shearer Maker’s Mannum stripper up to the most modern, a 1980s New Holland TR 85 with a 20-foot front and used to harvest rice crops.
The luxury of the TR 85’s air-conditioned cab, 25-foot Connor Shea comb front and V8 Caterpillar 3208 175 horsepower engine illustrated how far technology and agricultural innovation had progressed across eight decades.
Two John Deere headers, including a 9860 STS with a 10.9m front, owned by local farmers Wayne Scholz and Tim McRae, provided a backdrop to the working vintage machines with their computer software, GPS and six-cylinder turbo charged engines.
Pleasant Hills farmer Trevor Terlich negotiates extension steering on a 1927 open front Massey Harris header.
The iconic brands featured included John Deere, Shearer, Sunshine, Robinson, Claas, Allis Chalmers, Massey Harris, Oliver, Cockshutt, Horwood Bagshaw, and International – either ground driven, PTO or self-propelled.
A 1980 John Deere 1051 PTO header, one of only 187 made in Australia, demonstrated the revolutionary detachable front, which in a smooth operation became a tow behind comb trailer.
“I am game to say I am the only person in Australia with the three different Sunshine headers and all working. One has a Fordson motor and two speed gearbox while another has a 4 cylinder Wisconsin motor with a two speed gearbox while the third has a Wisconsin motor with a 3 speed gear box,” Mr Pietsch said.
“They haven’t got hydraulics so to lift the comb up and down, there is a shaft that runs back into a box and when you pull a lever, the comb goes up or down.
Open to the elements, Kerry Pietsch drives a 1964 Horwood Bagshaw header past a modern John Deere model showing the changes in technology and innovation.
“My favourite is my dad Victor’s self-propelled Sunshine Auto. My great grandfather came across on wagons from Dimboola and drew a 5000-acre block at Urangeline East.
“They had horsedrawn headers, and my grandfather bought two Sunshine Auto headers from Melbourne, sending them by rail to the Urangeline East to siding accompanied by two mechanics.
“They reassembled the combs and drove those headers to the farm. People heard about it and came from everywhere in buggies and trucks to see these big headers working as most of the machines were only eight foot wide.”
Contract fencer and former farmer Kevin Elphick, National Historical Machinery Association NSW state representative, was keen to see headers in action he had used himself – a Massey Ferguson 506 and International.
“This is a significant day as we just don’t see this anymore. Kerry is so passionate about his headers, and he likes to show them off while people just want to see them,” Mr Elphick said.
Kerry Pietsch with a Sunshine fuels up his historic Sunshine Auto header originally owned by his father Victor Piestch.
“It’s very important for the next generation to see this as they wouldn’t know how hard they worked back in the day, bagging the grain off by hand. I’ve used headers with no cabs and put up with the dust and chaff blowing in my face. It’s very rare to have this many headers in working condition.”
For Shepparton farmer Chris Calder, the day brought back memories of growing rice and wheat at Finley, “This is a working demonstration – it is so different from going to a museum and seeing the machine parked there. You won’t see three Sunshine Auto headers working together anywhere else,” Mr Calder said.
“There’s nothing like being here in a crowd of other like-minded people. The atmosphere here is great.
“You can look at the million-dollar machines sitting at the bottom of the paddock today, but these were the machines that paved the way. Necessity was the mother of invention, and we can see it evolve here today.”
