People think he is nuts, Allan Dippie reckons.
Nuts about tractors, that is.
The big-thinking, sometimes controversial Wanaka-based developer is more associated with things that go fast than go slow; you’d think the motor racing enthusiast would be more into Maseratis than Masseys.
So, when he began collecting tractors four years ago, there were a few raised eyebrows. His big shed in Wanaka is testimony to his predilection for the humble, mechanised workhorse that will be trotted out for the Wheels at Wanaka event over Easter.
"It’s become a real interest. People think I’m nuts that I collect something that does the lowest speed imaginable.
"But there’s just something nice about the tractor. I look at them as a little bit of history.
I think I see them differently to other people.
"A lot of experimentation went into each model each was just an experimentation of what you could make better in the next model.
"I reckon they are a real part of our history, particularly after World War 2 when New Zealand practically had to feed the world. Without the tractor we wouldn’t have been able to do it."
The first tractors, an Ivel and a Kinnard Haines, were imported in 1904. These early tractors were large, heavy machines, and therefore slow to be adopted by New Zealand farmers who stuck to horses. By 1919, there were only 136 tractors on New Zealand farms.
However, they rose in popularity in the next two decades as the machine for all jobs. Mr Dippie’s collection covers this period right up to the 1960s.
He enjoys finding out about each and every model with a carefully researched information card placed with each tractor.
With boyish enthusiasm, he jumps into the seat of an Oliver crawler, the same model that he and his brother, Martin, used to salvage punga logs out the Tahakopa bush in the Catlins, when they started out in business.
It was the foundation of their success.
"Since then there’s always been a tractor in the company. We’ve still got tractors. They’re just get more modern."
The collection has grown from those initial 20 tractors to more than 100 and he’s probably going to have to build a bigger shed to house them.
"Its great to be able to showcase them to New Zealand and show how they shaped New Zealand, and Wheels and Wanaka is a great way to provide a focus.
"I don’t like to think of it (the collection) as a museum. Museums can be static and stationary exhibits that never move or get used. A tractor is designed to be moved and to be used."
It will be a mammoth job making sure they all have moving parts, and getting them out of the shed on to the parade ground.
He would expect 400 more to converge on Wanaka from tractor treks starting all over New Zealand.
"Getting here will be half the adventure."
