Organisers of this weekend's 20th birthday rally of the Cootamundra and District Machinery Restoration Society would love to see it pouring with rain - but only if it holds off until Monday.
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The forecast is for cold starts but fine days for the weekend, which will see Cootamundra Showground packed with all manner of old and wonderful machinery.
As well as stationary displays there'll be a series of "tractor pulls" in which more than 40 tractors will compete in different classes to see which ones can pull the heaviest load.
And there'll be a demonstration of a "drag saw" - a big old flat saw turning logs into useful into useful timber, restored by the late Bruce Ward, a former shire president, with Jim Drane.
On show will be restored vintage tractors, trucks and cars, and working stationary engines of the kind that used to be standard issue on Australian farms to run shearing plants, power water pumps, generate electricity for lighting, and even power milking machines.
Society Secretary Lyell Constance said they only realised a while ago that it'll soon be 20 years since "a few of us got together and said we should have a club", in July 1999.
This will be the 11th rally the Society has held since its formation, giving members a chance to share their collections of old engines or show off recently-restored projects.
Among the early restorations was a Meadowbank stationary engine from the Gilgal property near Cootamundra, a labour of love for early member Jim Drane, and a piece of early history.
Possibly the largest collection is that owned by the Minehan family, at Stockinbingal, with various restorations "from a piece of steel to a running engine", according to Lyell.
One of the earliest tractors is a Massey Harris dating back to the late 1920s, with steel wheels.
Tractors and machinery will come to the event from Junee, Young, Temora, Gundagai, Cowra and even as far away as Moss Vale, while there's be some trucks driving up from Sydney.
The machines will be mainly petrol driven - diesel did not come into common use until the late 1930s - and there'll only be one steam-powered engine.
The rally starts on Friday, with a tractor trek of 20 or so tractors leaving the showground for a slow 60km return trip along back roads via Brawlin to Muttama, where there'll be a catered lunch, coming back via other back roads and properties.
There'll also be a sculpture competition - says Lyell "we've been asking everyone to knock up something in wood, steel or whatever, up to 25kg in weight, with a first and second prize for the ones the judges like the best".
Anyone with a display or stall can contact Dick Hartshorn on 0409 039 362.