Bulldog

Ask any Bavarian what their favourite Bulldog is and you will get an answer like: "Fendt, John Deere, Deutz, New Holland" etc. It's the common word for a tractor.

I have written about the origins probably 100 times but just in case any new readers stumble upon this, the first German commercial tractor was produced by the company "Heinrich Lanz" in 1921 and called the Bulldog. It became the most popular tractor with over 200,000 being built. Heinrich Lanz was bought by John Deere in 1956 and their manufacturing base in Mannheim became John Deere's European HQ and is still today.

Up until about 1965, Johne Deere tractors produced in Mannheim were called "John Deere-Lanz" and my own 1965 tractor must have been one of the last to bear the name.

The Bliped Lanz Bulldog was spotted in one of the industrial parks in Memmingen, a dealer in classic cars with a large mostly empty forecourt containing this tractor, two Swiss-made Saurer trucks, a Lancia, Audi and the Renault 4. Inside the showrooms, the Porsches and Mercedes are protected from the elements. One, a 1935 Mercedes 290 Cabriolet is on offer at €248,000. I didn't see any details of the Bulldog shown on the list stuck on the showroom door.

I was in Memmingen taking the lawn tractor to be repaired. It's 3.5 years old but has a 5-year warranty. Something in the electronics is broken although in the case of such a lawn tractor "electronics" is a bit overstated but probably a bit more than the Bulldog had in its heyday.

The mechanic at the DIY building firm "Bauhaus" said straight away as I opened the rear of the horse trailer that he didn't know much about the model but he did try his best to find a problem using a voltmeter. The first likely culprit seems to be a part which he didn't know but which I think from experience of other lawn tractors, is probably the solenoid.

But the mechanic said he knew an expert and he would sort it out soon. So sadly I had to leave the machine there.

My John Deere and lawn mower/aerator have been banned from the horse fields this year although we could badly do with a light aeration. Mine is not to question, just to do what I am told to do.

So back home and enjoy the afternoon sunshine. At around 18:00 one heck of a slow-moving thunderstorm came which did bring badly needed rain. Had to wait until 19:30 before I could get out with the dogs for an evening walk. All the tracks and paths were by then totally dry, every plant seemingly sucking up the moisture. I didn't check our PV when I got home and only the next morning saw that one of the lightning strikes must have tripped out our Mercedes Benz storage battery. So we ran all Tuesday evening and night on mains electricity but as I wasn't cooking, no great usage. Since the 1st April, we are as good as 100% independent now for electricity and warm water.