Our Editor, Tim Hanson, asked me recently if I could contribute an article for the Journal. My immediate reaction was ‘yes’ but I didn’t know what to write about. So I left it for as couple of days when I happened to be in conversation with John Selley and I mentioned it to him. In a flash John’s retort was ‘well what about describing the six tractors you have on display at Coldridge and on loan from AGCO?’ So thanks to John’s idea this is what follows.
To set the scene: Production of tractors at Banner Lane finished on Christmas Eve 2002. AGCO had to find new locations for their collection of display tractors. On 24th August2006 MF published a Press Release setting out the chosen sites. This document was produced by a small team of senior staff including Paul Lay (Manager Public Communications) and Jeremy Burgess (Director Licensees).
The sites chose were as follows:
Beauvais Visitor Centre.
Ferguson Model A No.1, Ford Ferguson NAN, Ferguson TE-A 20 Sue from the South Pole Expedition, Ferguson FE 35 No.1, MF 168, and MF 590 4WD.
Coventry Transport Museum.
Ferguson TE-F 20 No.500,000, a MF 65 Mk.1, and MF 4345, the last tractor ever built at Banner Lane and signed by all the people who had assembled it.
A couple of weeks prior to this Press Release I had a phone call from Jeremy Burgess asking if I would be happy to have the remaining five standing at Coldridge plus a couple of implements.
I quickly agreed to this request, on a renewable five year contract. The only condition that I had to abide by was that they would be kept in a locked and alarmed building wired to a control centre. As this was already in place there were no further issues. AGCO would insure them.
I will deal here with each ill chronological order starting with a Ferguson TEF Serial No.487570 and judging by the state of the tyres and the oil leak it has done quite a lot of work. It has 14″ wide red painted lines on the major parts. The description plate states that ‘This is a standard tractor and was used as a reference unit when monitoring production quality at Banner Lane’. My guess is that it was just a bit of nonsense to impress visitors on tour of the factory! Anyway I have it on display with my Ferguson Potato Planter with fertilizer attachment P-PEH. 20 Serial No.2870.
The next tractor is a Massey Harris Pony, 1957, fitted with a Simca petrol engine. I was told that this tractor just turned up on a lorry from Sweden that had come to collect a load of new MF tractors. No one seems to know why it was sent or by whom. It did leave Coldridge once for about six weeks to be used on a film set and was then safely returned. It has a two point hydraulic lift at the rear and a mechanical hand lever to operate the centre lift designed for use with mid mounted implements. It also has a rear PTO and belt pulley.
The third tractor is a MF 35X No.SNMYW 355101 and is fitted with a dual clutch, diff lock, Multi-Power and PAVT rear wheels. The tractormeter is showing 278 hours but looking at the tyres I’m sure it has done a lot more. As a point of interest it was used by Universal Hobbies as the basis for the production of their 1/16 scale model complete with the PAVT wheels!
The fourth tractor is a most original 1977 MF135 Serial No.473009, registration number TRW 306R. It is fitted with a Quick Detach cab and is only showing 250 hours which could be correct as it is in superb condition. Being a later model the Quick Detach cab is heavily sound insulated to meet EU regulations to ensure a sound level of less than 90 decibels at the driver’s cars. The top half of the cab could he unbolted and lifted off using the two lugs provided. MF claimed this operation could be done in 10 minutes having first unplugged the electric windscreen wiper!
A brief specification. Its a Perkins diesel engine A3-152, capacity 152 cu.ins (2500cc), power output 45.5hp at 2500rpm, gearbox, six forward two reverse. Cat I 3 point linkage with draft position and pressure control. Tyre size front 600 x16, rear II x 28, Wheelbase 72″ (1829mm).
The fifth tractor is the famous Nipper, a very specialist pulling tractor based on a MF265. It is the subject of a separate write up as is the article on the sixth tractor, ‘The Last Prototype Tractor made at Banner Lane‘.
Published in Journal No. 97 Spring 2021
