Neglected 1926 Aveling & Porter sold

Peter Love reports on the sale of an interesting but long-neglected 1926 Aveling & Porter 6-ton M-type tractor.

The auction house Reeman Dansie, of Colchester, does very well price-wise with what it sells, but it isn’t renowned for selling steam engines and classic cars, which were all part of a recent estate sale.

However the auctioneer hit the jackpot at noon on November 11th, when the 1926 Aveling & Porter 6-ton M-type tractor (No. 11705, Reg: PPJ 7142) came under the hammer.

Used in its working life by Dagnall’s of Chesham, in Buckinghamshire, the engine ended up at Wimbish, near Saffron Walden, in Essex, with the Taylor Brothers, who named it Nippy. 

The editor first saw the engine on a September Saturday way back in 1966, while visiting the premises for the annual steam ploughing event that was held here. 

Nippy was part of the 1980 Taylor Brothers sale; it had a three-quarter length canopy at the time and sold for £10,500. Not many years later, in 1987 at Stoneleigh and then with a short canopy, the engine sold for £15,600. It had a welded firebox and welded flange tubeplate made and fitted by the Bicknell brothers, at their workshop near Liphook. 

Nippy was rallied into the 1990s, but has basically been parked-up since 2000. From the photographs, the boiler assembly looks to have a tired firebox and necked crown stays, but the tubeplate looks very good, from the smokebox side. It was said by the auctioneers that the injectors, pressure gauge and chimney are not currently with the engine. At present they were being sorted out, but hadn’t been found at the time of the sale.

Essentially, the engine needs a full overhaul in the long term, so the selling price of £101,000 was excellent, particularly given that the commission rate was 12% which, with the added VAT, made a total of a whopping £115,544!

 

This news item comes from a recent issue of Old Glory, and you can benefit from a money-saving subscription to this magazine simply by clicking HERE