Doing it on a tractor

As an 11-year old I would get back from school, wolf down lunch and head out to "the lands" when my father's fleet of tractors was ploughing. It was a delight to the senses: the smell and feel of freshly turned soil; the birds following in the tractors' wake; and once on it, the noise, smell and motion of the tractor.

The trek to the other side of the field lasted an eternity but was a type of nirvana or dream where the only thing that existed was the feel of the wheel in my hands and the day up until that point faded away like an irrelevance.

Perhaps Tractor Girl, Manon Ossevoort, had similar memories and decided to take them to new heights. In one of those follow-your-dream stories, she set out to drive a Massey Ferguson MF 5610 "all the way to the geographical South Pole".

Above : Manon Ossevoort and her team. The photo is from the expedition's website.

 Ossevoort, who hails from the Netherlands, and her back-up team travelled the tough 2 500 km and arrived at their destination last week. They are currently engaged in the return journey. Get updates and more on the expedition at the website http://www.antarcticatwo.com.

Find the Tractors, combines and balers chapter in The Agri Handbook here. Updated statistics on national sales can be found on the South African Agricultural Machinery Association (SAAMA) website.