Vintage Spanners & Wrenches in Australia

Ferguson

Ferguson, Ford Ferguson, Massey Ferguson Tractors

Range of Grey Fergies displayed by the Harry Ferguson Club at the Korumburra Working Horse Festival 2008 © Ozwrenches

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A line up of Grey Fergies at Korumburra Working Horse Festival 2008
History Notes
Basic Toolkit for the Grey Fergie - Greaser, Spark Plug Tube Spanner, and two variations of the EN18 double ender
Fergy Bluespot Greaser - made in England by Tecalemit Cat No GC 3021
4161C VBW - Variation on the EN18 VBW in the Staffordshire Knot
EN19 - modern day Ferguson spanner
Ferguson Ring Spanners marked Ferguson and Britool FTB27
Dufor Ring Spanner
Ferguson Elbow Spanner, supplied with TEF Grey Fergy Diesel
Ferguson Spanner for Disc Plow
EN5C - another varation on the EN18
EN18 on a strongly ribbed shaft
EN18 type marked FERGUSON TO-17014
9N17014, Ford USA
EN18 type marked KVERNELANDS
EN18 type marked 180 108 M1 "MHF" at the top, followed by little brothers
Sparex version of the plough spanner
Special for Ford and Ferguson
Ferguson Elbow Spanner - flare nut end on an injector
Ferguson Elbow Spanner - ring end on oil filter
Grey Ferguson Toolbox
This handy Ring Spanner was used by some Ferguson maintenance people to shock-loosen "rusted on" wheel nuts

History Notes

Harry Ferguson

In about 1934, in company with David Brown, Harry Ferguson formed the Ferguson-Brown Company and the two men produced the Model A Ferguson-Brown tractor with a Ferguson-designed hydraulic hitch. Ferguson surmised that the tractor hitch was the key to having a better plough and designed a simpler tractor attachment for it.

In 1938 Ferguson made a handshake agreement with Henry Ford to produce Ferguson System Ford-Ferguson tractors using Ferguson's own self-regulating three-point hitch system, beginning with the Ford-Ferguson 9N tractor. This tractor is recognizable by the blue Ford emblem on the front of the hood and the Ferguson System emblem on the grill. The three-point hitch soon became the favorite hitch attachment system among farmers in North America and around the world. This tractor model also included a rear Power Take Off (PTO) shaft that could be used to power three point hitch mounted implements such as sickle-bar mowers. This PTO location set the standard for future tractor developments.

In 1946 the Ford Motor Company parted from Ferguson and a protracted lawsuit followed involving Ford's continued use of Ferguson's patents. Ford altered the hydraulic design of its postwar tractors to avoid Ferguson's hydraulic system patent, but continued to produce machines equipped with the basic Ferguson hitch arrangement. Equipped with the three-point hitch, the postwar Ford 8N became the top-selling individual tractor of all time in North America.

After the split with Ford, Ferguson took the opportunity to have the Standard Motor Company of the UK produce a new design, the Model TE20. The model name came from Tractor, England 20 horsepower (15 kW) but is affectionately known as the Little Grey Fergie. There were several variants of the TE20; the first tractors were designed to run on petrol, and were known as the TEA20 following the introduction of the TED20 which ran on TVO (tractor vapourising oil, similar to paraffin). Later a diesel model was introduced, the TEF20. There were other variants with narrow wheelbases for working in vineyards and orchards, like the TEB20 and TEC20.

In all over 500,000 Little Grey Fergies were built between 1946 and 1956, and a surprising number survive today. So successful was the TE20 that Ford nicknamed it the "Grey Menace" as sales of the tractor spread across the world. They were even used on an expedition to the South Pole in 1958 by Sir Edmund Hillary, a testament to the durability of the machine. Ford ultimately settled the legal proceedings with a multi-million dollar sum that allowed Ferguson to further expand his own manufacturing interests.

There is a monument in Wentworth on the junction of the Darling and Murray Rivers in Australia commemorating the time in 1956 when both rivers flooded and a fleet of little grey Fergies was used to build levee banks to save the town.

The principal feature of the Ferguson System was the three-point linkage. This allowed trailed implements to be supported on a hydraulic system with the two drag links attached under the rear axle and a single compression link, connected to the upper rear transmission case, that was automatically regulating the hydraulic suspension's height. Thus the implement could be built at a minimum weight because it needed no attached wheels, manual controls and so on. It was also assisting the tractor to maintain traction because it was applying a combined drag and rotary force to the axle that kept the driving wheels, on that axle, on the ground and the steering wheels held onto the ground too. Consequently the "rearing and bucking" of overloaded tractors was overcome, making tractors much safer.

Ferguson designs for tractors were the first with single-wheel brakes that allowed the driver to turn sharply by braking the inside wheel. The TE20 was one of the first tractors to have a four-speed gearbox with integrated Differential and hydraulic system.

In 1953 Ferguson and Massey-Harris merged and the combined company Massey-Harris-Ferguson (later shortened to Massey Ferguson) became the manufacturer of the tractors and other designs. By then many manufacturers had developed their own three-point linkages and the linkage had become standardised worldwide.(1)

References:

1. Ferguson wiki

Spanners marked Ferguson are uncommon. The vast majority are of the form of a double end spanner, jaw sizes 11/16" x 1-1/16"(AF) with centimetre and inch markings on alternate sides of the shaft. Most commonly found (in Australia) with the embossed "EN18" near the large end. There are other types - a double ended ring spanner, same sizes as mentioned previously, but marked "Ferguson" or "Dufor". These two basic types of Ferguson spanner were designed to fit all the nuts on a grey Fergy tractor that would be needed for maintenance by an operator. For the workshop, there were a bewildering array of special service tools, made by Churchill Tools and Britool. Many of these would be unknown to the collector, and not obviously recognised at Ferguson Tools.

In the USA, the Ford Ferguson and the Ford 9N tractors had a range of spanners or wrenches as they are known over there. Some had "HARRY FERGUSON" embossed on the shaft, others had TO17014 across the jaw. Some had the Ford logo in script in an oval circle, later there was FoMoCo in an oval also. By the time of Massey Harris Ferguson (later just Massey Ferguson), the serial number had changed to 180108 M1.

Rare Ferguson spanners: - there is a 2 ft long single ended spanner which was supplied with one type of Disk Plough, the one which was built around a cylinder. This spanner resided within the cylinder when not in use.

There are Ferguson spanners supplied with the TEF series of diesel tractors, based on the Standard Motors engine block (not the Perkins) - this is commonly referred to as the "Elbow spanner". It has a flare nut end for the diesel injectors, and a ring on the other end which fits the oil filter nuts. I am told there are two sizes in this, but I have only ever seen the one. Another rare Fergy spanner is single ended like the Disc plough spanner, but has a flattened bent end at the handle, which was designed for moving the slats on a Fergy trailer. A spark plug tube spanner, just a tad longer that the EN18, and a blue spot grease gun were also found in the Fergy toolbox. Most of these spanners are pictured below.

Basic Toolkit for the Grey Fergie - Greaser, Spark Plug Tube Spanner, and two variations of the most common EN18 double ender© Ozwrenches

Fergy Bluespot Greaser - made in England by Tecalemit Cat No GC 3021. This greaser also appeared in early model Jaguar Cars © Ozwrenches

4161C VBW - Variation on the EN18 VBW in the Staffordshire Knot is Vaughan Brothers of Willenhall © Ozwrenches

EN19 - modern day Ferguson spanner - reputedly being made in France right now © Ozwrenches

Ferguson Ring Spanners marked Ferguson and BritoolFTB27. It is not known who made the top one, but likely made in
Australia. These two spanners are the same size - my camera was playing tricks © Ozwrenches

Dufor Ring Spanner an Australian version of the Britool Ring Spanner (Dufor is the trade name of Duly & Hansford) © Ozwrenches

Ferguson Elbow Spanner, supplied with TEF20 Grey Fergy Diesel, fitted with the Standard Motor Co engine. Flare nut end
fits injectors, ring end fits fuel filters - more detail below © Ozwrenches