Several wartime and vintage tractors achieved high prices at the Roger Desborough Sale in Suffolk on Saturday 21st June. Hosted by auctioneer, Cheffins, the sale saw over 300 bidders take part, both on-site and online.
The collection on offer was amassed by the late Roger Desborough, a well-known vintage tractor and machinery enthusiast, and took place on the family farm in Wenhaston, near Halesworth in Suffolk. The highlight of the sale was a 1917 Holt 75, which was one of only four examples known to exist in the UK. This iconic tractor was feted in both the UK and America and was in production from 1914 – 1924, mainly supplying the British, French, Russian and US armies during the First World War, mostly as gun tractors hauling heavy Howitzers and also as prime movers for supply trains. The current example was originally part of the famous Heidrick Tractor Collection, which today forms the nucleus of the California Agriculture Museum. It was purchased by Roger Desborough from the Cheffins Cambridge Vintage Sale in October 2016 and was sold for £75,040 against a pre-sale estimate of £50,000 - £60,000, to a Belgian collector.
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Holt 75, sold for £75,040
Another highlight of the sale was a 1919 Saunderson Model G, which sold for £46,096 against an estimate of £40,000 - £50,000 and a 1963 Doe Triple-D which achieved £43,942, well within its estimate of £40,000 - £50,000 and was sold to a Suffolk-based collector. Other top prices included, £37,520 for the 1919 Overtime Model N, one of the oldest examples of this important American tractor in existence in the UK and £34,304 for a 1917 Rumely Oil Pull. One of the more unusual lots on offer was a Howitzer decommissioned artillery field gun, which sold for £16,080 against a pre-sale estimate of £10,000 - £12,000.
Bill King, Chairman at Cheffins says: “As a testament to Roger Desborough’s reputation as one of the leading vintage tractor collectors in the country, this sale attracted a huge amount of interest from enthusiasts worldwide, and we saw bidding from Holland, the USA, Belgium, Ireland and throughout the UK. The auction presented some of the rarest British pre-war tractors as well as iconic American machines, most importantly the Holt 75 which would go on to achieve the top price of the day. While the headline lots all achieved well within their pre-sale estimates, we also saw a number of the classic tractors sell for some incredible prices, such as the early sixties Massey Ferguson 35X Multi-Power which made £12,864 when it sold to a local enthusiast.”
Bill King continued: “This sale reaffirmed that the collectors of vintage tractors are still going strong and looking for rare British and American examples, and particularly those which have been as meticulously cared for as those which we offered at this sale. In a stark comparison to the car collecting market, these early and Edwardian machines are still being sought after, with high prices being paid for the best examples.”
The sale took place at Church Farm, Wenhaston, Halesworth, Suffolk on Saturday 21st June 2025 from 11am.
The prices recorded are totals, including buyers’ premium at six per cent and VAT.
The next Cheffins Vintage Sale will take place at the Cheffins Machinery Saleground at Sutton, near Ely, on 18th and 19th July.
For more information, please call Cheffins auctioneers on 01353 777767 or email machinery@cheffins.co.uk