PART 4 OF 4

Three tragedies from tractors

JAMES’ Uncle Clarence Nagorcka was killed in 1946 at Rainbow, Victoria, on his parents-in-law’s property when the tractor he was driving rolled over a bank in a creek bed.

Then in 1957, his good friend and neighbour Eric Lange was killed.

“We had some land at Lake Linlithgow – and he and I were ploughing alongside one another,” James said.

James became visibly upset at recalling the tragedy.

“It was very black soil – we had a shower of rain – we couldn’t plough anymore because you’d slip in the furrow and we both decided to go home.

“He went home around the edge of Lake Linlithgow onto the Chatsworth Road.

“I took a different road home and then came down the Chatsworth Road.

“It was only the next day that I found out that he was killed.”

The tractor Eric was driving was a tricycle tractor that had two back wheels and one front.

The front wheel slipped into a groove, and because it was going sideways, it rolled down into the lake.

“It was a fairly high embankment,” James said.

“He was killed on impact – the tractor rolled on him – there were no cabins in those days.

“I was still in school – he was 42.”

The third major incident involved James’ father, Percy, in 1973, when they were working together in the paddock.

“I left him in a paddock – he was going to do some raking,” James said.

“When he finished, he was going to bring the tractor and the rake home to our place and then I would take him home.

“It got sort of later in the evening around 9pm and he hadn’t returned.

“He should have been there at least an hour or hour and half earlier – he should have been home.

“So, I drove out in the car but couldn’t find him.”

“I started looking where I’d left him right at the start of the paddock – he was on his first round.

“The rake was set a bit too wide and hit the fence.

“He got off to adjust the hay rake, and in getting off he didn’t put it completely out of gear and when he took his foot off the clutch, it jumped and it threw him on the ground.

“The tractor wheel went over his leg, but the rake wheel went over his face.

“The tractor kept going without him and ended up at a strainer post down the paddock further and he had been there since I had left him – about 4pm in the afternoon.”

James noted that there were no ambulances in those days, so he made the decision to drive his father straight to hospital.

“Dad was a big man – and I just lifted him into the car and drove to emergency,” he said.

“He wasn’t conscious – and it transpired that he had had a stroke.

“The surgeon that came around to talk to the family that night said he didn’t expect him to live long at all.

“Maybe overnight – that was it.

“His arm and jaw were broken, and they didn’t bother fixing them.

“He was unconscious for another two weeks.

“But eventually got over it – and he lived for another three years.

“The problem was though, they had to reset his arm and jaw.”

James’ father was only 59 when that happened.

When he came out of hospital, he told James he wasn’t unconscious, but he just couldn’t talk.

“He could hear the family talking but he couldn’t say anything,” he said.

“That’s what made me respect them – I had the utmost respect for the dangers of tractors.

“I see other people doing silly things not knowing the dangers.

“A tractor is a big piece of equipment, it’s unforgiving if you do the wrong thing.”

“I’m not a smart guy – I’m just a guy who is realistic and puts things together in a logical way.”

James clearly had business acumen to complement his engineering mind, and developed strong skills in international diplomacy, the market and trade.

“It was a culmination of ideas – rather than build a piece of machinery in Hamilton to sell to the rest of the world,” he said.

“Instead, we thought we’d sell it to someone else who could use it and put it to the rest of the world.

“I learnt very quickly what talk is – the pressures and mechanical jargon you needed to talk to engineers.

“You had to be able to read the information – and if you were conservative in your design, you knew it was going to work and then you’d sleep better at night.”

James said being born a common sense, practical farmer, equipped him with the skills he needed to persevere and succeed.

Now aged 77, James reflects modestly upon the journey he and June have had.

“Not everything worked out perfect,” he said.

“I wrote letters and letters to overseas companies – some replied – some didn’t.

“But the business venture was a gift.”

James and June attribute the success of their ventures to their Christian faith in God.

“We also had wonderful fellowship and support from our church community,” he said.

“Although things didn’t always go according to plan, when they did, it was a real highlight.

“It was the tracks that opened up the real enjoyment of engineering for me.

“It was so rewarding to see the projects that worked. 

“Our warranty rate for all the years manufacturing tractors was only two per cent.

“We – are not only June and I – but all of our staff,” James said.

“We’ve had fantastic people working with us.

“Some of them did an apprenticeship in steel fabrication, turning, lathe work or engineering – we had some really good people.”

Along the journey several people were particularly supportive of James and June in life and in their business ventures.

James paid tribute to them, in particular the late Edgar Nagorcka, his father’s first cousin, who he described as a very resourceful, inspirational and inventive man, who gave him many words of wisdom and encouragement, especially regarding his tractor endeavours.

“John and Kate Obst were also very supportive,” he said.

“John was a director at the Pastoral Research Farm and he and Kate were both very encouraging to June and I.”

Leon Prest, also from Tarrington, was contracted as a mechanic to service our tractors.

“We’d travel by air from Hamilton to many farms across Australia to service our tractors,” James said.

“The farmers loved it.

“Pilots were Graham Bond, Ted Finchett and Keith Crawford.”

“Waltanna has always been very grateful for the support it received from Hamilton businesses, including Mr Len and Brian Walker from L A Walker Engineering.

“Their quality and workmanship were greatly valued over many years.”

James is now taking his time to think about writing the book and has engaged Graham Greenwood, a renowned journalist from Mount Gambier, and former editor of The Border Watch.

Mr Greenwood has also written biographies for Dale Cleves from Dale Cleves Music stores, on Allan Scott from Scott’s Transports, and the McDonald family who are exponents of the South Australian timber industry.

“I never thought we would do anything other than succeed,” he said.

“You have got to have that mentality.”