Ten men, seven tractors and six-hundred kilometres of remote outback roads.
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Richard Jefferay admitted it sounds like "a stupid idea" but says it's for a great cause.
The Parkes Tyrepower owner and a group of mates will be hitting the road later this month to raise money for prostate cancer research. But they won't be driving cars.
"I've got a couple of Fergie tractors and after a four wheel drive trip out west earlier this year, I thought it'd be cool to just drive tractors from town to town in that backcountry," he said.
![Lindsay Wall, Richard Jefferay and Dick Jefferay with some of the grey Fergies they plan to drive from Bourke. Picture supplied Lindsay Wall, Richard Jefferay and Dick Jefferay with some of the grey Fergies they plan to drive from Bourke. Picture supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/137578502/288bc634-284a-41bc-8701-a78a93d534fb.JPG/r0_0_3717_2418_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"We've got a couple of back-up vehicles so we'll camp and eat along the way and certainly support any of the pubs and communities we pass through."
The ten-man team will be setting off from Bourke on August, 25 and making stops in Louth and Wanaaring on their way to Hungerford on the Queensland border. Then they'll return to Bourke via Yantabulla and Fords Bridge.
Their vehicle of choice for the 581-kilometre trip?
Seventy-year-old Ferguson TE20 tractors with a top speed of 23 kilometres per hour and no cab, no padding on the seats and certainly no creature comforts.
"People sort of laugh about it when we tell them - they look at me and say 'really mate?'," Mr Jefferay said.
"We're going to do a practice run this weekend. I've got five tractors in my shed in a million pieces so I've gotta fix them all up and take them for a run before we go."
This isn't Mr Jefferay's first outback adventure on vintage tractors.
"We used to do runs from Cobar to Louth to raise money for Careflight which is 100 kilometres. I've done that bi-annually for four years," he said.
"My tractor was the slowest on those runs ... and you'd be plodding along the road by yourself and the farmers would just look at you like you're an idiot when they drive past you.
"It looks pretty weird."
The idea for the fundraiser came from Mr Jefferay's workplace Tyrepower, which is a major sponsor of the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia. Closer to home, his father Dick - who will be coming along for the journey - has had his own long term battle with prostate cancer.
Originally Mr Jefferay hoped the upcoming trip would raise $1,000 but having already smashed that goal he's now aiming for $10,000.
"My old man has prostate cancer and Tyrepower supports it a lot as well, and have been really strong supporters, so I just rang them up and said let's do it," he said.
"The community have been really supportive."
Donations to the group's fundraising efforts can be made through the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia's website.
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