During the spring of 2010 i was recovering from an accident that left me off work for over 5 months and a badly shattered leg!! i received a phone call from a friend who tipped me off about an original Massey table trailer that he knew was on a farm near Bristol airport, not very far from me! i had been looking for an original trailer for some time, eventually i contacted the owner who confirmed he had one and that i could pop down and take a look.

A few days later i went to this farm met the delightful father and son who had ran massey combines for many many years but at this time were running a john deere,we set off across the fields and then i spotted sticking out of the hedge the distinctive swan neck of the drawbar, we pulled it out from its overgrown home which probably had been for many years!! i checked the axle which was minus its wheels!! but noticed the brass plaque that after rubbing clean confirmed to me this was the real mc coy The Barton combine table trailer, made by the Barclay Motor co who made these trailers for Massey Ferguson, also what amazed me was slotted into the axle frame in brackets were the original metal wheel chocks that would be used to chock the trailer steady when hitching or unhitching table,i asked the owner if he had the original wheels ? he said he would have a good look around the farm but couldnt promise.

The table securing clamps which consisted of threaded bar and hook type clamps were still attached but bent all out of shape and totally seized solid as you would expect and would have to be replaced, for sure not a major problem, my only worry was not having the original wheels so the owner said he would contact me should he find them.

After about a couple of weeks i received a call stating that not only had he found the wheels but the tyres had air in them and he had the nuts!! so all was good and i managed to get her home and i used this restoration as a gradual return to working again although i was still on crutches !.

This particular trailer i think probably late sixties early seventies, its built for 12/14/16/ft tables for the early type tables not the later super 2 tables, i cut off the bracket clamps used some threaded bar to make these serviceable again put two new tyres on the wheels, the jack was fine, all that remained was an appointment with the sandblaster which duly followed.

After sanding and priming the trailer was ready for painting, as the weather was good and settled i carried this out at home in the open i used a super red cellulose paint and previous to painting i ordered the decals once again from Machinery decals Dave Saunders, i based the main decal massey ferguson on the fact that at that time the combines had a silver backround strip and black writing on hood during late sixties early seventies !! it looks the part i think ?

Below is some pictures of the trailer during its restoration, and a couple of trips out to some local shows.