Landowners and occupiers may have private rights for their vehicles, which run in conjunction with a footpath or bridleway. They included the JI Case company, which was emerging as America’s leading agricultural steam engine manufacturer.

If the discs wear down to the metal, they’ll score the axle housings and the whole assembly will need replacing.

The process starts by dropping the track off, before removing the idlers and knocking out the pivot pins. Yes, the rebated fuel legislation has not changed, so provided the tractor is being driven solely for agricultural use, and its role fits within the parameters of the legislation, nothing has changed.

Case carried on with steam power but introduced its first production tractor in 1911, just in time for the surge in tractor sales during the 1914-18 war. Another major step forwards in power farming versatility arrived with the Ivel tractor, built by Dan Albone, the son of a market gardener and publican. A driving licence isn’t required for off-road use if you are driving on private land with the permission of the landowner. Engine sales totalled more than 32,000 units and included one that generated electricity for the lights on the Statue of Liberty in New York and another lighting up the Taj Mahal in India.

He also added a gear-driven front power take-off to operate equipment such as a binder that could be pushed instead of pulled. This takes about two days, so while he’s got the engine out, Mr Morgan takes the opportunity to replace the main rear oil seal and check the condition of the gearbox drive shaft. Tractors are a major expenditure on the farm, and breakdowns can leave you with a big mechanic’s bill. If speed changes in the continuously variable transmission are jerky, it could be down to the accumulator.

Matthew “Buster” Morgan worked for Case-IH dealer James Green Farm Machinery for 21 years, before moving back to the family farm near Bromsgrove, Worcestershire. While it is all frustratingly slow for farmers, this is a step in the right direction for more closely aligning the legal position to the reality of our industry. After this setback John Froelich left the company, which stopped making tractors and concentrated on petrol engines. Farmers and contractors can, of course, use tractors for moving produce, as part of the agricultural operation, within current limitations for operator licensing. The tractor was powered by a Hornsby-Akroyd engine, made by the Hornsby company after it acquired the production rights from inventor Herbert Akroyd-Stuart in 1891.

The box has six speeds in three ranges – low, medium, high – and it is possible for these range packs to give up the ghost.