The Model F in the Museum’s collection was donated in the early 1960s by Mr Ben Bain of the Grosse Isle area. The Bain family purchased the tractor new and used it on their farm near Grosse Isle. At the time the tractor was donated the eight bottom Avery power lift plow that was purchased new with the tractor was also donated to the museum where it remains.The tractor is seen here in 2010 being moved into the Heritage Building for display and storage. The tractor had just returned from a three year restoration undertaken by Museum volunteers Keith Munro, Norm Lepoder, Gilbert Vust, Alvin Vust and Jeff Nicoljsen.
Marshall and Sons were a Gainsborough, England farm machinery manufacturer who built
steam engines, threshing machines and other machinery. They decided to enter the kerosene tractor business and built what are termed the “Colonial” tractors in the decade before World War One. These Colonial tractors were tractors meant for the “colonies” or in other words Canada, Australia, India and South Africa but were also sold in South America. The motto Marshall and Sons used for the Colonial tractor was “Built like a battleship and runs like a watch.” This particular tractor is a four cylinder Model F dating from 1914 and has a rating of 32-70 (32 horsepower on the drawbar and 70 horsepower on the belt). There were some other models of Colonial tractors. A Colonial tractor was tested at the 1909 Light Agricultural Motor Competition held at the Winnipeg Exhibition. The statistics from this competition indicate this tractor had a four cylinder engine with a rating of 25-60, a weight of 22,000 pounds and a price of $3,400. This tractor may have been a Model D. Marshall also built a two cylinder Colonial tractor and one appeared in the 1908 Light Agricultural Motor Competition.
The number of Colonial tractors built is unknown but thought to be small. Of the larger four cylinder colonials there are five complete tractors left in the world with parts of a 6th perhaps in Saskatchewan. Three of the existing five are in Canada, a Model D at the Reynolds museum in Alberta, a Model D at the Western Development Museum in Saskatoon and the Model F at the Manitoba Agricultural Museum. There is a Model F in Australia and a Model F in England which was returned there from Australia by a tractor collector. With the advent of WW1, Colonial tractor production came to an end.
