WHILE tractor collectors and restorers are numerous in Australia, very few could lay claim to the level of expertise of the late John Reeves, formerly of Geelong.

An ex-Massey Ferguson mechanic, John was known in tractor restoration and collection circles as a master when it came to the humble Fergie.

John passed away earlier this year after a long battle with cancer, but his legacy will continue in the dozens of tractors he helped restore and in the knowledge he so freely passed on to other enthusiasts looking for advice.

Drysdale Fergie collector Graham Wilson knew John for more than a decade.

"We got to know each other through a common love of old tractors," Graham said.

"Unfortunately, I am not very good mechanically and that's where John came in.

"His knowledge was extraordinary.

"He helped me do up three tractors, all TEA 20s, and we still use one today."

Graham said John was like many of the tractors he restored.

"He was an original," Graham said.

"John was a true gentlemen and always willing to help.

"As soon as he arrived at a rally, he would be swamped - it wasn't uncommon for queues to form as people scrambled to pick his brains.

"But it was never any trouble for John - he was very willing to help out."

John travelled frequently throughout Australia to meet fellow enthusiasts and ``talk tractors'' at many historic machinery rallies.

His unique caravan had been converted so that his beloved Massey Ferguson, affectionately known as "Trusty Rusty", could be driven into the caravan and transported.

John was born in the Western District and attended school until 1939.

With his father away at war, John and his family moved to Tatura, where he began an apprenticeship in motor mechanics.

John started work with a Ferguson agency at Terang in 1950 and stayed there until 1970.

His area of responsibility ran from Terang south to Port Campbell to Gellibrand and north to Lake Bolac, all in his trusty Vanguard service van.

In John's words, "one man could jump on the Fergie and do all they wanted to".

"A little bit of petrol instead of feeding, grooming, harnessing the horses and away you went," he once said.

Towards the end of his life, John found a new passion in the form of a 1925 Chev ute.

John inherited the ute from a family farm in northern Victoria a couple of years ago and it was in a sorry state.

"It was a complete wreck when he got it," Graham said.

"But, like all his restoration jobs, John poured everything into it.

"It gave him a renewed lease on life as he struggled with the cancer."

The ute led the parade at the Lake Goldsmith Steam Rally in October last year, but, sadly, John was too ill to take part in the day.

Graham is now the custodian of the ute and he plans to proudly show it off as often as possible.

"It was a little different for John to do up the ute, but he did a fantastic job of it," Graham said.

Appropriately, the Chev ute was the hearse at John's funeral, which was held at Grovedale.

Graham's wife, Lynette, said that, after the service, as the ute moved away from the funeral home, you could almost hear John chuckling, "this is real good".

Trusty Rusty and the Chev ute remain in the Reeves family and are in the care of the British Farm Equipment Ferguson Restoration Association, based at Geelong.