Richard Betts was among those enjoying a trip down memory lane at this year's AgQuip at Gunnedah, as he recalled the first event 50 years ago.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
He was a young apprentice mechanic with Tamworth's Cornish's Tractors Machinery and Spare Parts when he was told by Col Jeffries, a salesman at the business, to come to work in his "civvies" (civilian clothes) as they were going to the first AgQuip field days, then held at Gunnedah's Riverside Racecourse.
Mr Betts spent 15 years as a mechanic for agricultural machinery dealers in Tamworth, including spells with Cornish's for nearly seven years, then with Dalgety which had the Ford tractor dealership, and then Goodwin and Kenny.
He visited AgQuip regularly as a tractor mechanic and quickly developed a reputation as being more than handy with a spray gun.
"I even had to give a Big Bud tractor a touch-up and used two litres of white paint and one litre of black paint to make it look fresh and new," he said.
"I had to stretch the paint with thinners to make it work. It was the last appearance of the Big Bud at AgQuip."
Gavin Bartel, Greenbah, Moree, was also at the inaugural AgQuip, though he was just two when he was snapped alongside his older sister, Kylie, by photographer on a miniature John Deere tractor.
They were replicas of models his family couldn't afford, but now on his own property he has his own "big kid" tractors.
"I probably pinch myself sometimes because I didn't think I'd be doing it and have the gear that we've got compared to what my father had and even his father before him," he said.
Mr Bartel dropped into AgQuip on Tuesday to look at advances in camera sprayers.
"I just like to go and look to see where we can fit new tech into our program to stay up to date, because I find that if you don't stay up to date to a certain point you can fall behind and it is too hard to catch back up again."
The first AgQuip was a four and a half day event, held at the Riverside Racecourse from noon on Tuesday, August 21, to Saturday, August 25, 1973.
By 1976 AgQuip had more than doubled in size with 136 exhibitors covering eight hectares and close to 80,000 visitors. The racecourse was full.
The new 121ha site west of Gunnedah was purchased from the now late Cec Herbert and after extensive preparation, a move was made in August 1977.
Of the 63 companies listed for the first event only a handful still attend. Some of those early names include Gyral Implements, Honda, New Holland, Suzuki and Yamaha, as well as Australian Wire Industries, Davey Dunlite, GM Holden, Chamberlain Deere and Ford.
