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Having finished his Suffolk Dredging tractor, John Haining went on to design "Caradoc", his vision of what a modern agricultural tractor would look like had steam survived into the late twentieth century. Based on an enlarged version of the dredging tractor engine coupled to a fast steaming vertical boiler, many have been built in both three and four inch scale.

Built in 1995, this engine has a commercially-built steel boiler with copper tubes, working pressure 100psi, feed by mechanical pump with bypass and hand pump - paperwork includes all boiler history from its first test.

Two cylinder simple expansion engine, slide valves actuated by Stephenson's reversing gear. Two speed transmission.

The original design called for bodywork of a distinctly modern tractor outline. The previous owner didn't like this and created a sort of "Foden meets Sentinel timber tractor" type cab which is not unattractive. At the same time, he replaced the original all terrain type tyres (which appear virtually unused) with a more road-oriented set.

There is a large driving/passenger trolley incorporating a decent-sized water tank, useful given the engine itself had a tank the size of a small biscuit tin.

I had this one in steam most of yesterday morning. It steams very freely and is comfortable to drive. If you're into fine scale replicas of authentic prototypes, then this is probably not the machine for you. However, if you're after a large, easy to drive steam engine which is highly capable on the rally field, then it is worth considering.

Length
Tractor 40 inches
Trailer 40 inches

Rear wheel 16 inch diameter
Frotn wheel 12 inch diameter

Weight approx 250 pounds (tractor)