A FARMER'S tribute to a vintage year of haymaking involving his 1948 Fergie may well prove to be a You Tube hit.

David Coates' One Man Went to Mow has already been viewed by more than 540 people in less than a week and with a little bit of help, could go viral.

David, who produces CravenBale haylage and meadow hay for the area's horse and pony owners at Pot Haw Farm, Coniston Cold, this year found himself this year in the unusual position of having some spare time.

"Usually, we're battling to finish the harvest before the weather changes, but this year we had a couple of days left of good weather," he said.

"So, we thought we'd unveil the Fergie and have a bit of fun."

The film, produced by Nathan Connolly of Elite Eventing, and using a camera mounted on a drone, shows David setting off on the vintage tractor.

Accompanied by a tuneful whistle, David is followed mowing his fields, but finally, with a bit of help with some modern machinery, dwarfing the old Fergie.

The whole process is shown, from the cutting of the grass, to the gathering it into bales, to wrapping and loading it away.

"I wanted to show people how much effort goes into producing the haylage," said David, whose farm is also home to Craven CountryRide.

The business is no stranger to the promotional film - one of event rider Ben Hobday tackling the cross country course has been viewed by more than 3,000.