An important private collection of vintage tractors, agricultural machinery and bygones amassed over almost sixty years is set to go under the hammer this August, as East Anglian auctioneer Cheffins hosts a timed online sale on behalf of Norfolk collector and farmer, Tom Randell.
The sale will run from 25th August to 1st September 2026 and will comprise over 150 lots of vintage and classic tractors, combine harvesters, steam engines, implements, spares and agricultural bygones.
Highlights of the sale include a 1937 Lanz Bulldog Model N tractor which has an estimate of £25,000; a 1944 Marshall Model M tractor which is set to sell for £18,000 and a rare 1920s Hanomag tractor which is fitted with a Karl Ritscher ditch cleaning attachment which has an estimate of £10,000. There is also a 1900 Davey Paxman portable steam engine. This was purchased from the well-known steam collector Tom Paisley in the 1960s and is one of the earliest known examples from Davey Paxman, a Colchester-based manufacturer. It has a presale estimate of £18,000.
Tom Randell comments: “I started collecting vintage tractors and machinery in 1967, when I was 20 years old. I started with a Field Marshall which was fitted with a winch and which I had borrowed several times to winch out a stuck tractor. Shortly afterwards, I added two John Deere’s to the collection and then it just kept growing.”
Over the following decades, Tom Randell would continue to buy and discover tractors and agricultural machinery, eventually creating one of the most interesting collections in East Anglia.
He continues: “The biggest thrill with collecting is when you find something you have never seen before, such as the Hanomag. A friend of mine, Cecil Dawson, had bought the Hanomag from a military sale and I found it at his scrap yard, with a stack of wood heaped over it like a teepee. Cecil had said this was to keep it dry! But as he was selling his yard for housing development, he agreed to sell it to me. So, the Hanomag came home with me, and I have never seen another like it.”
Also available at the Cheffins auction is a series of other vintage tractors, two 1961 Claas combine harvesters and a series of implements, including early potato harvesters, sprayers, ploughs, engines and bygones.
Tom Randell continues: “I have found a number of other interesting and rare pieces over the years, such as the Marshall Model M and the Lanz Bulldog, all of which are still in working and running order. That is the joy of vintage tractor collecting, you never know what you are going to find overgrown with nettles or abandoned somewhere on a yard, and every tractor has a story. However, after almost sixty years of collecting, I have decided that now is the time to reduce my collection and enjoy a condensed selection of vintage tractors and implements, including the historic ones which were bought by my father and used on the farm.”
Oliver Godfrey, Head of Machinery Sales at Cheffins says: “This is a wonderfully historic collection which we are delighted to be able to offer to the market. Tom Randell has collected a series of fascinating and rare items and has a real eye for quality, as well as an encyclopaedic knowledge of historic tractors. Many of the tractors on offer have been held in Tom’s Norfolk-based collection for decades, and we are sure that these will be of great interest for the tractor collecting fraternity.”
The sale will take place online at www.cheffins.co.uk - there will be a viewing day on Thursday 27th August 2026 10:00am – 4:00pm near North Walsham
To view the catalogue, click here
To value machinery with Cheffins, please click here
For more information, please visit www.cheffins.co.uk, or call Cheffins auctioneers on 01353 777767.
For further media information, please contact Sophie Richardson, PR Manager at Cheffins, [email protected]