Dick Kerslake’s Farmall Story
100 Years of Farmall: Celebrating the Legacy of Case IH's Farmall Tractor Series with Dick Kerslake's Inspiring Story
Case IH’s Farmall tractor series celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, and this legend of world agriculture is being honoured by farmers around the world.
Dick Kerslake is a dedicated farmer in the Val district of the Mpumalanga Highveld. His family’s association with Farmall tractors dates back to 1940. Here is his story…
Farming is in my blood. I was born on the farm and I am a part of the third generation of Kerslakes to farm at Val. My grandfather, Alfred Kerslake, bought a small portion of the farm Witnek in 1905, after the Second Anglo-Boer War. Over the years he gradually expanded, buying up more portions.
He was a hardworking farmer who strived to improve farming methods, to improve the fertility of the soil and the condition of the grazing. He was also actively involved in the community and the Farmers’ Association. Sadly, he died when my father was only five years old.
My father, Frank Kerslake, was the youngest of four children. He joined the army and went off to fight in the Second World War, stationed in North Africa. When he eventually returned, the farm was quite run down and he was determined to build the farm back up to its full potential.
He bought his first tractor, a pre-owned Farmall Regular, in 1940. Over the years he acquired more Farmall tractors and in 1948 he bought his first brand new McCormick WD9. Eventually the farm was fully mechanised.
International Harvester (IH) was a very well-run company, and my father liked the Farmall and McCormick tractors. When we still had a functional railway system, my dad could order spares for his tractors from the Isando Head Office and if he ordered the spares before 3pm the parts would be at the station that same evening. That was service!
Through hard work and determination, he became one of the best farmers in the district, winning the Kynoch Fertiliser trophy for the Best Improved Farm for five years in a row. I learnt a lot about farming from my dad, especially about hard work and discipline and a love of the land.
Growing up on the farm I learnt to drive a tractor at the age of five. After finishing school and the obligatory military service, I came back to the farm and put my heart and soul into farming and expanding our farming operation.
I grew up with Farmall and McCormick tractors. The McCormick tractors were bigger tractors that did all the heavy work, like ploughing and harrowing. The Farmall tractors did the lighter work, like planting, cultivating and transport work. We used a Farmall B tractor for cutting hay, teff and eragrostis. We used the Farmall Regular and F20 tractors to rake the hay and to cart the hay to the dairy yard to make haystacks.
The popular Farmall tractors were well advanced and very productive for their time during the period from the 1920s to the 1970s. Today these old workhorses remain popular as sought-after collector’s pieces.
For sentiment’s sake I kept some of my dad’s old Farmall tractors, which we are slowly restoring. Over the years, I have been buying old Farmall tractors and have managed to collect a variety of different models. Altogether, I have a collection of about 30 Farmalls.
I am a member of the Highveld Vintage Tractor Club and once a year we hold a ploughing competition at Val with a selection of our Vintage Tractors which, of course, includes a variety of Farmall tractors.
When one has spent as much time as I have, ploughing, planting and combining, it is rewarding to look back on how things were in the past to where we have progressed today. From ploughing with a team of oxen to the huge, technically advanced tractors and combines of today that can harvest hundreds of hectares with ease.
I feel very strongly about farming as our family has been working our land for 118 years. With the support of my wife and my two sons, who are taking over, we have built up a large family farming business.
It is important to pay tribute to our forefathers and the contribution they have made to the farming world we know today. We would not be where we are if it had not been for their hard work and dedication.