TRACTORS have been a way of life at two different levels for Mr Malcolm Gill ever since he was a young man.

While he is the proud owner of four full-size machines, including a little grey Massey Ferguson made in 1956, the development of the tractor over the past half century is illustrated in his remarkable collection of models from all over Europe and America.

Since 1967, he has amassed about 400 miniatures, ranging from the humblest and crudest little toy to the most sophisticated replica, and he faces the prospect of running out of space because the collection is still growing.

Fordson, Ferguson, John Deere, Allis Chalmers, David Brown, Field Marshal, Massey Harris, Massey Ferguson - historic names forever associated with farming - seem to ring from the shelves of the packed display case in Mr Gill's office at Crakehall watermill.

For older visitors who see them, the models bring back memories of petrol and diesel fumes, newly-ploughed earth, hot farmhouse tea in cans and back-breaking potato picking with wire skeps for 30s a week.

Mr Gill was brought up with tractors because he is a member of the family which ran John H Gill and Sons, the foundry and farm machinery centre at Leeming Bar.

He rose to become sales director, but left the firm ten years ago to run a caravan park at Baldersby. He and his wife, Ros, bought the restored Crakehall watermill 2 years ago.

The roots of his massive model collection can be traced back to his 21st birthday in 1967. He said: "Sitting on top of the cake was this Massey Ferguson 165, made by Corgi, which I thought was rather appropriate because I was selling tractors.

"Afterwards, I found some more tractor models which I had had since I was a kid and put them on my desk in the office, then I put a shelf up to keep them on.

"That birthday cake tractor is still in the collection, which has just grown and grown. As sales director I went abroad a lot and looked for an opportunity to find a model or toy shop where I could find something different which was not on sale in this country."

He picked up many of the models at toy fairs in York and Harrogate and at a specialist tractor event in Spalding, Lincolnshire. Others are exclusive promotional gifts specially produced for tractor manufacturers and not on general public sale.

His oldest and rarest model, only about an inch long and crudely cast by modern standards, is a 1945 Fordson Major produced contemporaneously by Lesney, later famous for its involvement in the large range of Matchbox models.

At the other end of the scale, but not on general public view, Mr Gill has each of the 12 large, expensive and exquisitely detailed tractor models made so far by a leading fine arts firm, which mounts them on special bases.

For space reasons he leans towards the manageable model scales of 1:32 and 1:64. He has dabbled in 1:16 scale giants made by an American firm but the display case cannot accommodate them.

Mr Gill has also made room for models of lorries and vans if they are tractor-related, such as a load of miniature spare part crates bearing the legend "the Ferguson system" or a manufacturer's service vehicle.

His collection includes a few miniature renditions, varying in quality and accuracy, of the Ferguson TE20, the little grey post-war tractor with which the name of Harry Ferguson will always be associated.

Mr Gill said: "Fergusons have always been my favourite, but there would not have been enough models available to make up a large specialist collection, which was why I broadened it to other makes."

He added: "The quality of tractor models has changed beyond all recognition since the Corgi and Dinky toys of the 1950s. Many other makers have emerged and many models are now not so much toys to play with as collectors' items.

"Nowadays you can also get fully detailed white metal kits which you have to assemble yourself and then paint. They look just like the real thing when you see the photographs of the assembled models, but I don't know whether to try one.

"What I have noticed most have been prices. Once specialist dealers become involved up go the prices. At one toy fair last year I saw a 1960 Fordson Major model. It was in its box, which had the original price of 2s 6d marked on one end, but the model was going for £75.

"When some people buy models they never take them out of their boxes but just store them away in the attic. I like to be able to see and touch my models and let other people see them as well."