Nigel Gamble and his family received a new Farmall 50B from Case IH New Zealand
With tractors regarded as the backbone for many New Zealand farms, there was no shortage of inspiring stories for the Case IH 175-year anniversary competition, but it was the tale of a 1947 Farmall H and a hard-working Timaru farming family that stuck in the minds of competition judges.
Nigel Gamble and his family received a new Farmall 50B from Case IH New Zealand product specialist James Perry and national sales manager David Silk, after their entry was chosen as the winner.
The competition was part of Case IH’s 175th anniversary celebrations, with entrants being asked to share a photo and story about what made their Case IH tractor special.
“Nigel’s entry ticked all the boxes,” Case IH New Zealand operations manager, Tim Fanning, says. “It was a moving story, supported by a beautiful shot of his family and his restored Farmall H.” The old Farmall has played a meaningful role for the Gamble family. Nigel’s grandfather bought the tractor new in 1947. “I never got to meet my grandfather, as he passed away in 1955 when my mother was only seven. When he passed on, he left my grandmother with five children and a farm to run without her husband. The only times my mother has ever talked about her father have been connected with the tractor.”
Nigel’s uncle, only 14 when his father died, left school to take on the farm and relied on the Farmall H as the farm’s main work tractor. Many years later, when Nigel took ownership of the tractor, it had been out of use for nearly 20 years, and he spent five years meticulously restoring it.
Gamble’s entry included a photo of his mother, aunt, and uncles, who were just children when it was first purchased, standing in front of the beautifully repaired tractor.
“Getting to meet Nigel, it became clear that we’d chosen a really deserving winner. He and his family are genuinely lovely people. They even put on morning tea for us. And it’s also great to know that the family are excited to put the new Farmall to work straight away. It’ll be helping with projects on the family lifestyle block as well as in Nigel’s contracting business,” James Perry says.