A vintage Western Port tractor has found a new home at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra.
One of the earliest surviving Australian-manufactured tractors, the 1912 McDonald ‘EB’ oil tractor was built in 1912 by Melbourne engineers Alfred and Ernest McDonald, who had produced the first Australian-made oil tractor five years earlier.
It was originally purchased by Frank William Chilcott for use at Lillesdon Park, his 403-acre farm on French Island.
The arrival of the tractor on French Island was a memorable event that required a police escort.
“When Frank’s small nephew [Garth Bennetts] saw it coming over the hill to his island home, he took fright, ran inside, and hid under the bed,” local Ruth Gooch recalled.
Mr Chilcott passed away in 1919, and the tractor passed to his brother-in-law, Richard Bennetts.
It was likely used for land clearing as part of the local chicory cultivation industry, which was a prolific industry on French Island until the mid-1960s.
The EB was acquired by the National Museum for $250,000 in 2021, with the support of the Australian Government through the National Cultural Heritage Account, a grant program that assists Australian cultural organisations to acquire significant cultural heritage objects.
It is being displayed in the museum’s Gandel Atrium as part of its National Historical Collection, which supports its mission to tell remarkable stories from Australian history.
Museum curator Dr Ian Coates, who coordinated the acquisition of the tractor, said it has historic significance because of its association with Australia’s first tractor manufacturer.
“Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the early tractors produced by AH McDonald & Co was the relative sophistication of their engineering, which included coil ignition, a three-speed gearbox and automotive rack-and-pinion steering,” Dr Coates said.
“This reflects Alf McDonald’s capacity to improve the contemporary design of imported American tractors.”
National Museum director Dr Mathew Trinca thanked the Australian Government for its financial assistance with the purchase of the tractor, which he said is an unrivalled example of Australian ingenuity and design.
“The McDonald ‘EB’ oil tractor represents a theme of Australian innovation in a revolutionary era for engineering. This acquisition represents our agricultural history, and we are thrilled to share it with Australia,” Dr Trinca said.
The tractor will be on display at the National Museum of Australia from 15 May to 23 July 2023.
It was acquired with the support of an anonymous benefactor.