If you were at the Strathnairn vintage rally and working day you would have noticed a couple of machines and sundries from Kenneth McKenzie & Sons of Evanton: a bag opener and a turnip cutter.
Kenneth McKenzie of Evanton, Ross-shire, later Kenneth McKenzie & Sons, Evanton, was a noted implement maker in Ross-shire, whose name went well-beyond the boundaries of that county.
Kenneth was already a smith and farrier in 1903. In 1922 he is recorded in trade directories as an agricultural engineer, a mechanical engineer, a motor engineer and a smith. By 1955 he is denoted as an agricultural engineer, implement, machinery and equipment manufacturer and as a tractor and implement dealer.
Kenneth’s business grew and expanded.
By 1945 he had premises at Evanton and also Conon Bridge. In 1955 he also had a branch at Inverness. He was joined by his sons in business by 1949, becoming “Kenneth McKenzie & Sons”. Sister company also emerged, including Kenneth McKenzie & Sons (Caithness) Ltd, which had premises at Burn Street, Wick, in 1952.
The company actively promoted its manufactures and its implements and machines for which it was an agent at the Highland Show from 1923 onwards until 1956. It focused its attention on the shows in the more northern parts of Scotland attending ones at Inverness, Perth, Edinburgh, Dundee, Paisley, Aberdeen, and Alloa.
The company manufactured its own implements and machines. They included potato dressers, root cutters, barrows, food coolers, and sack holders.
In 1949 the company made a variety of root cutters. They included:
Root cutter, model no 1, with 1 1/2hp Lister engine
Root cutter model no 1 with 2hp electric motor
Root cutter model no 1A with 1 1/2hp Petter engine
Root cutter model no 2 with 1 1/2 hp Petter engine
Root cutter and cleaner, combined model no 3 with 1 1/2 hp Petter engine
Root cutter model no 4 stationary
Root cutter model no 417 stationary with 2hp electric motor
Root cutter model no 4B semi-portable with 1 1/2 Wolseley engine
Root cutter model no 5 stationary
Root cutter model no 6 stationary with wall brackets
Root cutter only for existing power.
The company continued to operate until 1957.
The photographs were taken at the Strathnairn Vintage Rally, September 2018.
