Davie’s a leader in his field: Retired mechanic has biggest collection of vintage tractors and milk bottles in Scotland

A RETIRED mechanic has amassed what’s thought to be Scotland’s biggest collection of vintage tractors over three decades.

Davie Reid stores around 160 of the agricultural machines in warehouses on his land at Newmachar in Aberdeenshire.

He started collecting 30 years ago and has had to build four sheds to house them.

The 78-year-old grandad has travelled far and wide as part of his hobby and once drove more than 2000 miles to collect a tractor near Hanover, Germany.

Davie also owns vintage cars, motorbikes and even a 1950s bus that he used to work on when he was a coach builder. And, as if that wasn’t enough, he has an entire shed dedicated to a collection of around 3000 old milk bottles.

Davie said: “I used to work on a farm and developed an interest in tractors.

“I’ve got about 160 now. I built a shed for them and got so many that I had to build another and another.

“I’ve picked up a lot of tractors from the continent.

“I usually try to make a holiday of it and go for a few days. It’s brilliant.”

The first tractor Davie bought was a grey Ferguson tractor from the 1950s.

That started him off on a hobby that has taken him around the world picking up rare tractors wherever they pop up.

Often he finds the vehicles in a dilapidated state and spends time and money restoring them. He also owns three vintage cars: a 1931 Austin Ruby, a 1938 Morris Eight and a 1987 Mercedes 220.

And of 15 vintage motorbikes he owns he said his favourite was a BSA Bantam which was used by General Post Office in the 1950s for postal and telegram delivery work.

Some of the vehicles hold a sentimental value – such as a 1952 Leyland Royal Tiger.

The bus is the same one he worked on as an 18-year-old coachbuilder for Scottish bus operator W. Alexander & Sons in Aberdeen.

And he isn’t the only person who finds the vehicles hold a great deal of nostalgia.

Davie said: “I had a man come here who was 87 years old and said he used to drive one of the tractors.

“He said he used to have a bit of wire in a circle and would put an egg in it and sit it in the radiator at the start of the day and it would hard boil his egg by the time he’d finished.”

His milk bottle collection is just as important and he has an entire warehouse to house the 3000-strong collection.

He said: “They come from all over the UK and Ireland. I started 10 years ago.

“The oldest one I have is a wide-necked bottle from the 1940s.

“I get them from loads of different places. Some I’ve bought over the internet. I bought 20 at a car boot sale in Inverurie last week.”

Davie’s sons Richard, 50, and Kevin, 45, help him maintain the vehicles as does grandson Craig, 25, who shares his passion.

The family put the collection to good use and hold a tractor road run every year to raise money for charity. This year’s run on March 19 is being held to raise money for North East Sensory Services.

Davie, who featured on TV show Salvage Hunters, said he would never sell his collection. “If you’re a collector you don’t sell.”