Bert Legge’s County moving from Rannoch Fore
Photograph courtesy of Ian Cameron, Ballater.
The old ERF low-loader (165 DXC) looks in remarkably great condition with its paint work all polished up. On the back is a County Bogmaster tractor ALN405B (1964) which was driven by Bert Legge from Huntly. The tractor may not have been registered when new as Ian thinks it was on the go in 1961.
Bert Legge is sitting in the passenger seat of the lorry which may have been driven by Gordon Sleigh. Ian recalls ‘‘I think it was a Gordon Sleigh; he took over the loader from a guy called Grubb. Gordon Sleigh was remarkable in having accidentally filled his thumb with grease from a power greaser; it was not a bonny sight. Noel Reid, our Caterpillar D6B dozer operator, took over from him.
The County crawlers were first and foremost agricultural tractors.They were very competitive in price, much cheaper than Caterpillar or International. This led them to develop an industrial version, and the blue paint became yellow with a heavier radiator guard. I suspect that Forest Research nudged them into the Long Wide version (Bogmaster), which attained its length through having two gearbox casings in tandem; the second gearbox being only a spacer!
The Bogmaster was only really successful in deep peat, as it was very difficult to steer and under-powered.’’
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