Modern tractors are half computers on wheels, but true tractor enthusiasts still swear by the technology of yesteryear. They could indulge themselves on Saturday at the Nostalgic Farmers Day in Opende. But there are also minor concerns. Will those old-timers soon be subject to road tax?
He looks almost beaming. Those sharp diesel fumes in the nose, the soft but steady thud of the idling engine. For Sieger van Veen it sounds like music to his ears. On Saturday in Opende he gets exactly what he came for from Frieschepalen.
,,Beautiful, isn’t it?!”, says the retired Frisian at a simmering old-timer. “I can really enjoy this. Especially that sound of the antique Lanz’kes or the Porsche tractors I’ve seen down here. Boom Boom Boom. Beautiful!”
No room for tractors at home: ‘I tinker with old mopeds’
No, Van Veen does not have a real agricultural background, although he would have liked to become a farmer. “But that was not possible, I have always worked in construction. I am now a bit of a hobby farmer, with a few alpacas and some chickens. And tractors? Unfortunately I don’t have room for that. I tinker with old mopeds: Puchs and Zündapps. Also nice.”
Van Veen is one of the many hundreds of visitors who came to Opende on Saturday for the eighth Nostalgic Farmers’ Day. More than four hundred classic tractors are lined up in long rows at camping Jiltdijksheide. Blue Fords, green John Deeres, red McCormicks and dozens more brands, from rock-solid German Fritzmeiers, Fendts and Güldners to exotic surprises such as an Argentinian Pampa.
Fifteen liters of fire extinguishing water in the engine after a fire, but antique Landini is driving again
One of the most special collections today comes from Harmannus Sienema from Surhuisterveen. He brought five tractors to Opende. But there are still about twenty at home. ,,Normally we come here with more, but we just came back from holiday at seven o’clock this morning,” he says when he has parked his latest acquisition next to his other showpieces.
His Landini L45 is a tractor with a story. Nothing can be recognized of its original shine, the term rust bucket-on-wheels comes closer. But that he is still driving at all is actually a miracle, says Sienema. “We bought it in April last year in East Groningen, after a large barn fire in Oostwold. There was almost nothing left of it. Everything was stuck, the rims had melted and the engine contained fifteen liters of fire extinguishing water.”
,,I like a tractor with a challenge”, says Sienema, with a sense of understatement. Little by little he has refurbished the Landini. ,,He would first leave for old iron, but I thought that was a shame. I thought: if it doesn’t work out, I’ll put it in the garden as a kind of standing table or bar. But in December we had him again so far that he took his first puffs.”
No idea how many hours of work are involved: “It’s a hobby, isn’t it”
How many hours has he put in it now? ,,No idea, I don’t keep track of that: it’s also a hobby, isn’t it? When you get such a lost cause working again: that’s a great kick. To really restore it to its former glory, it would still have to be painted in the original blue-grey, but I actually think it is so much nicer: more authentic.
There are thousands of hobbyists like Sienema in the Netherlands. But how should that be done if tractors, including old-timers, may soon have to pay motor vehicle tax? Louis Veenstra from Gerkesklooster and Piet Oldenburger from Froombosch, who meet at the Güldner tractors, can already see the storm coming.
“There is already a registration requirement for tractors,” says Veenstra. “Then you can count on your fingers that there will also be a tax. I just met someone here who said that he already pays five thousand road tax for his two old-timers. Then the hobby goes away quickly, doesn’t it?”
Uncertainty and concerns about possible tax liability for old-timers
This development is a cause for concern, says Luit Hiekens, secretary of the Groningen section of the national Old Tractor and Motors Association, which organizes the event annually with a local working group in Opende. But he hopes it will blow over. “It would make it a lot more difficult.”
The introduction of compulsory registration was already difficult last winter, says Heikens. “The old tractors often no longer have a type plate with the required vehicle identification number. So it was complicated to arrange all that properly. But a tax liability makes it even more difficult. We haven’t seen concrete plans yet, so we don’t know where it’s going yet.”