All uphill
Still rolling along
- Location
- Somerset
MBIFO a Cletrac dozer.
The Tractor and machinery thread
- Thread starter PeteXXX
- Start date
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MkI MF 165. 1964 - 67, before the engine was replaced with the later 212 series Perkins. The wheel rim centres were also changed from red to silver around the same time. I think the 175 was superseded by the 178 around the same period.
Is that a County or Roadless beyond the Massey's?
EltonFrog
Legendary Member
It was a County, a brand that I had never heard of before yesterday.
County Commercial Cars made crawler and equal sized wheel 4 wheel drive conversions of Fordson and Ford tractors for many years. They were fitted with Ford lorry engines. Popular with forestry operators and on very large farms. They were strong, had incredible traction and were great for heavy pulling but had ahorrendous turning circle.
Roadless, Muir Hill, Doe and a few other less well known companies also produced 4x4 versions of Ford products over the years.
They were all a small niche market as there wasn't really anything else on the market to compete with them at the time but in the 1970s, the likes of Fiat, Lamborghini, Landini, Zetor and SAME started selling much cheaper, mass produced 4 wheel drive tractors and Ford started to build their own too as there was now enough of a demand for mass production and the likes of County slowly died off as their market evaporated and they couldn't compete.
Highly prized and very valuable today.
EltonFrog
Legendary Member
I do recall the bloke told me it was a 4 wheel drive, and a ford engine. BTW the blokes driving them were all enthusiasts, and all in their mid to late twenties.
Pale Rider
Legendary Member
If I recall, Ford were quite laid back about bona fide engineering companies customising their products, presumably to promote sales.
They issued a standard letter which gave the customiser a general approval, enabling them to sell the finished product as a 'neo-Ford'.
The same happened with the Transit, which is thought to be one of the reasons why it became so dominant in the market.
We had Nuffields, a Fordson, and later Ford tractors, with the latter being regarded as the best.
My long deceased uncle, who bought all the tractors, reckoned David Browns were too complicated and Massey Fergusons were too lightweight.
We had a twin fuel grey Fergie for light duty, although it fell out of use as the farm - and the tackle - became bigger.
Grey Fergies are still popular today for use on market gardens and smallholdings, partly because there are not many new lightweight tractors being made,
A company called Bray made all wheel drive conversions on Nuffields too although they are extremely rare.
Ford's were great in many ways although I've always been suspicious of their engines. Some could be impossible to start, even when new and they occasionally could leak all the coolant into the sump. The one big advantage MF had in those days was the Perkins engine. It really was the best in the business. MF's small tractors were pretty good but they struggled to build big tractors, things like the 188 and the 590 managed to be very clumsy, very heavy but nowhere near powerful enough for their weight imo. They also never really properly modernised their tractors and we're still building basically a 1950s design into the '80s and '90s. They got away with it due to brand loyalty I think, plus the basic product was easy to operate and basically very reliable.
David Brown's hydraulic system was great when it worked. It was temperamental. I never worked on one but I do believe it needs a great deal of skill and knowledge to overhaul the DB hydraulic system and set it up properly. You also needed a degree in maths to work out the gear change sequence as the ranges all overlapped.
The International World Series tractors deserve more support than they get. They were years ahead of nearly anything else in the '70s with a really good cab, great hydraulics, brakes that worked and synchromesh gearbox. They were reliable too.
Pale Rider
Legendary Member
I get the impression the current large Massey Fergusons are well thought of.
Going back to our fleet, the Nuffields were a Universal and a 10/60.
The latter had a front loader, but with no power steering was a brute to drive, particularly when using the bucket or bale loading attachment.
The Universal only had five gears, but was very quick - for a tractor.
We had two farms a couple of miles apart.
The Universal was always first pick when hauling tackle between the two premises because of its superior road speed.
The other thing the Universal had was a belt drive bolted on the engine block near the clutch pedal.
We used that to operate a static bench saw and a small hopper-loaded milling machine.
With several yards of speeding fabric belt flapping in the breeze and no guards the whole thing was a health and safety nightmare, but that wasn't a consideration at that time.
Also in the early days we had a baler with its own static engine.
You started the engine, set the throttle, then jumped on the tractor to tow the contraption up and down the field.
Because the tractor was only towing the baler, not powering it, the grey Fergie was fine for that task.
Our next baler had one of those new fangled power take off (PTO) drives.
That took the Fergie out of the picture because while it had a PTO it just didn't have enough grunt to power and tow the baler.
Same happened with ploughing.
The Fergie was fine for a single or double furrow plough, but once we got a four furrow reversible it was time for the big gun.
That was a Ford 5000 with about 75hp, even that had to work at full throttle to drag the plough.
Goodness knows how much grunt the enormous multi-multi furrow ploughs of today need.
Going back to our fleet, the Nuffields were a Universal and a 10/60.
The latter had a front loader, but with no power steering was a brute to drive, particularly when using the bucket or bale loading attachment.
The Universal only had five gears, but was very quick - for a tractor.
We had two farms a couple of miles apart.
The Universal was always first pick when hauling tackle between the two premises because of its superior road speed.
The other thing the Universal had was a belt drive bolted on the engine block near the clutch pedal.
We used that to operate a static bench saw and a small hopper-loaded milling machine.
With several yards of speeding fabric belt flapping in the breeze and no guards the whole thing was a health and safety nightmare, but that wasn't a consideration at that time.
Also in the early days we had a baler with its own static engine.
You started the engine, set the throttle, then jumped on the tractor to tow the contraption up and down the field.
Because the tractor was only towing the baler, not powering it, the grey Fergie was fine for that task.
Our next baler had one of those new fangled power take off (PTO) drives.
That took the Fergie out of the picture because while it had a PTO it just didn't have enough grunt to power and tow the baler.
Same happened with ploughing.
The Fergie was fine for a single or double furrow plough, but once we got a four furrow reversible it was time for the big gun.
That was a Ford 5000 with about 75hp, even that had to work at full throttle to drag the plough.
Goodness knows how much grunt the enormous multi-multi furrow ploughs of today need.
Datum2
Über Member
- Location
- Huntingdonshire
Onions being lifted and windrowed for drying today near Little Horkesley. Fendt 240 on the front. Not sure what brand the onion lifter is
Datum2
Über Member
- Location
- Huntingdonshire
Allis Chalmers crawler about 35hp
Fendt rubber track crawler around 450hp
Both seen in the Frieston area near Boston
Fendt rubber track crawler around 450hp
Both seen in the Frieston area near Boston
Datum2
Über Member
- Location
- Huntingdonshire
Harvesting action in the Boston - Wainfleet area today
Harvesting a field of OSR in front of the Sibsey Trader
Harvesting a field of OSR in front of the Sibsey Trader
plantfit
Guru
- Location
- Lincolnshire
Hercules and John
plantfit
Guru
- Location
- Lincolnshire
Bit of a beast this one,
I have no idea
I have no idea
Datum2
Über Member
- Location
- Huntingdonshire
Something like a Howard trencher on the back of a Fordson Major with rotaped tracks
