Many hands made light work for a unique fundraising idea at the Leap Revved Up Festival in west Cork.
Teams of six people worked around the clock for a full day to restore a 1963 David Brown 990 tractor, all with the aim of raising funds for the development of a community AstroTurf pitch.
Kilmacabea GAA finished the “challenging” project in full view of the public at the local festival and will now raffle off the restored vintage tractor at the end of this month.
The man who came up with the idea and member of the restoration team Diarmuid French believes the farm vehicle is as good as new: “Fully working, fully driving. You could put anything on to it at the moment and work it. It’s 100%.”
Teams of six people worked around the clock for a full day to restore a 1963 David Brown 990 tractor, all with the aim of raising funds for the development of a community AstroTurf pitch. \ Leap GAA via Facebook
French said he came up with the fundraiser off the back of a successful ‘Dyno Day’ organised last year.
As many of his friends were vintage tractor enthusiasts, spare parts were not hard to come by.
From scratch
The entire project of cleaning, painting and reassembly was completed strictly inside the time limit, under the watchful eye of the locals.
“We started from scratch. It was a unique idea really,” he added.
“Everyone could see what was happening. They spent the 24 hours coming and going, checking us out, watching us and seeing if we took any shortcuts.”
The raffle
On completion, the tractor took part in the Monster Rag event alongside a restored Yamaha RD 350 YPVS motorcycle, which was fixed by local bike enthusiast Decky O’Donovan over 24 hours as well.
The finished tractor caught the eye of many onlookers at the festival and throughout social media.
What began as just a local fundraiser has quickly grown momentum, attracting the attention of vintage clubs all over the country and even the David Brown Museum in the UK.
Although French is delighted with the international attention the restoration has received, he is hoping the winner won’t let this fully functioning tractor rust up in a showhouse or a garden.
“It would be nice to see it still working. There are tickets sold all over the country, there’s even tickets sold in England. It could end up anywhere, but it would be great to see it out in use and going to vintage days and things like that.”
The community
All the proceeds from this fundraiser will go to the construction of a well-needed AstroTurf pitch in the local town.
The all-weather community pitch is currently in phase one development, with the fundraiser only €200 short of its €3,500 goal.
French is sure that the creative people of Leap will come up with an even more unique idea for next year’s fundraiser.
“There was a lot of hard work put in by a lot of very good people. Everyone pulled together, it’s a great community here.”
The raffle takes place on Friday 30 August and tickets can be found on the Leap Revved Up iDonate page here.
Many hands made light work for a unique fundraising idea at the Leap Revved Up Festival in west Cork.
Teams of six people worked around the clock for a full day to restore a 1963 David Brown 990 tractor, all with the aim of raising funds for the development of a community AstroTurf pitch.
Kilmacabea GAA finished the “challenging” project in full view of the public at the local festival and will now raffle off the restored vintage tractor at the end of this month.
The man who came up with the idea and member of the restoration team Diarmuid French believes the farm vehicle is as good as new: “Fully working, fully driving. You could put anything on to it at the moment and work it. It’s 100%.”
Teams of six people worked around the clock for a full day to restore a 1963 David Brown 990 tractor, all with the aim of raising funds for the development of a community AstroTurf pitch. \ Leap GAA via Facebook
French said he came up with the fundraiser off the back of a successful ‘Dyno Day’ organised last year.
As many of his friends were vintage tractor enthusiasts, spare parts were not hard to come by.
From scratch
The entire project of cleaning, painting and reassembly was completed strictly inside the time limit, under the watchful eye of the locals.
“We started from scratch. It was a unique idea really,” he added.
“Everyone could see what was happening. They spent the 24 hours coming and going, checking us out, watching us and seeing if we took any shortcuts.”
The raffle
On completion, the tractor took part in the Monster Rag event alongside a restored Yamaha RD 350 YPVS motorcycle, which was fixed by local bike enthusiast Decky O’Donovan over 24 hours as well.
The finished tractor caught the eye of many onlookers at the festival and throughout social media.
What began as just a local fundraiser has quickly grown momentum, attracting the attention of vintage clubs all over the country and even the David Brown Museum in the UK.
Although French is delighted with the international attention the restoration has received, he is hoping the winner won’t let this fully functioning tractor rust up in a showhouse or a garden.
“It would be nice to see it still working. There are tickets sold all over the country, there’s even tickets sold in England. It could end up anywhere, but it would be great to see it out in use and going to vintage days and things like that.”
The community
All the proceeds from this fundraiser will go to the construction of a well-needed AstroTurf pitch in the local town.
The all-weather community pitch is currently in phase one development, with the fundraiser only €200 short of its €3,500 goal.
French is sure that the creative people of Leap will come up with an even more unique idea for next year’s fundraiser.
“There was a lot of hard work put in by a lot of very good people. Everyone pulled together, it’s a great community here.”
The raffle takes place on Friday 30 August and tickets can be found on the Leap Revved Up iDonate page here.
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