Red tractors have always held a special place in the heart of Putaruru’s Chris van Heuven.

They take him back to childhood days spent on dairy farms in Matamata, Waitoa and, from the age of 8, Tīrau.

A builder by trade, Chris eventually found his way back to farming. Today he and his young family live on the 168‑hectare farm he contract milks for his parents, running 500 cows and sharing 50/50 ownership of the land.

“I remember my Opa always wearing an International cap when I was a child, and Dad always had International tractors too. I guess that’s where the interest began,” he says.

The 1953 Farmall FC viewed from the back – the seat is not original. Photo / Catherine Fry

Chris’s first collector’s tractor was a Farmall FC. His most recent purchase –another Farmall FC – joined the shed in June 2025, an acquisition he freely admits was an impulse buy.

The tractor, built in France in 1953, runs a two‑litre, four‑cylinder petrol engine, with four forward gears, one reverse and puts out a modest 25 horsepower. What caught Chris’s eye, however, was its unusual configuration: a front-end loader paired with a grader blade mounted underneath.

Chris van Heuven’s Farmall FC has a Hamilton-built front loader. Photo / Catherine Fry

Andrew Higgins, the previous owner, explains how the machine came to be.

“It was bought as two tractors in the 1990s – one with the loader, one with the grader – and then combined into one using the best parts from each,” he says.

The Farmall FC is unusual in being fitted with a grader. Photo / Catherine Fry

The rebuilt tractor was used on a small farm primarily for topdressing, shovelling manure into spreader tractors, and occasional grading work. Andrew notes that the loader was originally designed for loading aircraft before he modified it for farming.

“In the 1950s, this would have been a pretty advanced tractor – able to handle a variety of jobs on-farm,” Chris adds.

The grader can lift, lower and swivel to change its angle, allowing it to function much like a small road grader. A third hydraulic linkage offers capacity for an additional attachment if needed.

Chris isn’t rushing into a restoration.

The gears and hydraulics of another era. Photo / Catherine Fry

“It’s usable in its work clothes for now,” he says. “It’s pretty original except for the seat and some front lights. The starter motor has been upgraded to 12 volts because the old 6‑volt batteries were just too expensive.”

The FC made its first public appearance in the 2025 Putaruru Christmas Parade, proudly towing the St Mary’s Catholic School nativity float – an outing that delighted Chris and cemented the tractor’s place in the community as well as his collection.

Another view of the hydraulics and gear controls. Photo / Catherine Fry