IT'S not uncommon to find restorers who have spent their lives working on collections of vintage machinery.

But Bob Twyford, of Red Cliffs, has taken just 10 years to amass more than 100 historic tractors, including eight of his beloved Lanz Bulldogs.

Bob is planning to open his own vintage farm machinery museum on his property, to display the private collection of stationary engines, farming tools and harvesters.

Bob said he was looking forward to turning his hobby and passion into a small business.

"We have a farm here at Red Cliffs, but, with the scarcity of water in the past few years, the collecting and restoring of machinery has been a welcome distraction," he said.

"We plan to use a decommissioned 16ha fruit tree block as a working demonstration area, where we can show visitors how farming used to be done."

Bob's relatively sudden transformation from farmer to restorer and collector was sparked in 1999 when he bought his first Lanz Bulldog tractor.

"Our family originally had a dairy farm in Gippsland and one of the first tractors I remember as a kid was a Lanz Bulldog," he said.

"I bought my first Bulldog in 1999 and that was the end of me."

Bob now has eight Lanz Bulldog models and aims to get a "complete set".

"There would be at least 20 models of Bulldogs and I would love to have them all," he said.

One of Bob's favourite tractors is a Lanz Bulldog affectionately known as Big Jack, a fully restored 1937 P model.

"Big Jack is a real crowd pleaser at rallies and field days," Bob said.

"It's had only three owners since it was new and I bought it in 2000.

"It had not been running since 1974 at that stage, so it required quite a bit of work, but it's been well worth it.

"When it's running, the sound is awesome.

"The exhaust is about a foot in diameter and the big engine runs at about 55 revs a minute."

Big Jack's engine is a single-piston, crude oil two-stroke and the piston itself is 230mm in diameter.

Starting the tractor is a feat in itself, according to Bob.

"It's not like you hop on and just turn the key," he said.

"You first need to heat the oil up with a blow lamp, then you grab the steering wheel, which doubles as a crank, to rock the motor over under compression.

"Then, hopefully, away it will go - and when it is running, it has plenty of torque.

"The low-revving engine churns out 55 horsepower, and that's draught horses, not ponies."