Labour of love: The Suttons gather in front of the Massey-Harris 744 that Jim Sutton convinced his father to buy in the 1950s. Pictured are Chris, Jim, Mark and Peter Sutton.
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Retired life can sometimes mean a step backwards in activity and busyness.
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Yet for Yarroweyah local Jim Sutton his golden years have meant using his skills to bring a part of his family history to life.
Jim, a former diesel mechanic, went on a mission to bring his old family tractor, a Massey Harris 744, back to pristine condition.
The tractor has been in the family since the early 1950s when Jim convinced his father, Walter Sutton, to buy it from a dealership in Cobram.
The tractor has been in the family ever since and has been a part of Jim’s life in the same way Jim has been a part of life in Yarroweyah and its surrounds.
Peter Sutton, Jim’s son, said his father was an active man in the local community.
“He was known very well around Yarroweyah because he made hay elevators, grain elevators and other agricultural machines for farmers, and he went to people’s farms to service machinery and critical infrastructure,” Peter said.
“I’ve heard it said that the soldier settler community wouldn’t have succeeded without the support of my father.”
Peter had heard several accounts of his father’s handiwork.
Rosemary Sezun’s father Joe Bull was one of the Yarroweyah soldier settlers living in the area, and said life would have been near impossible without Jim.
“Dad told me once that Jim Sutton kept a lot of the soldier settlers afloat during hard times,” Ms Sezun said.
“If people couldn’t pay he would still do the job for them and tell them to pay him later when they were able to.”
Glory days: The Sutton family’s tractor back in the 1950s.
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Jim has long since retired, but his love for tinkering hasn’t gone away, and Peter said several years ago his father decided to get the old family tractor up and running again.
“He has been doing it for the past three years, and very actively in the last couple of years,” he said.
Peter said restoring the tractor had been a great source of joy for his father, who had his family assist him — but it had been hard at times.
“It’s been a challenging job as he has had to get parts, and it’s an old tractor,” Peter said.
“He was able to scrounge some parts from Strathmerton local Ron Munro, who used to sit next to Jim back when they were both at school.”
Other parts were found online, and slowly but surely, the tractor was restored to its former glory.
“It’s been quite good,” Peter said.
“It’s given him (his father) a huge amount of pride. He took the tractor, and now it’s in pristine condition.”
For Peter, the restoration of the tractor was symbolic of the very nature of his father.
Restored: The Massey Harris 744 is back and looking better than ever.
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“He is very passionate, very tenacious and he is a determined can-do person, and he was an excellent diesel mechanic,” Peter said.
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