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www.ploughmyfield.co.uk

Welcome to the new look ploughmyfield.co.uk website.
The content is the same just a different look.
I'm still playing around with it so please send your comments to the email address above.

Diary

[15/10/07]
Yes
The furrow wheel assembly is finished.

I think I have solved the starting problem. I should have consulted the Ferguson service manual first. Section G Page 31 (a) and I didn't get any current drop. this pointed to an elactrical problem. I checked the starter switch - FIne, I connected the motor directly and it spun, with lots of sparking. So the only thing left the solenoid. Ifeel confident enough to order one

[09/10/07]
Progress
With another hour or so the rubbing down of the furrow wheel has been completed and the primer coat added

I have also taken a picture of the plough Plate as I took it off the plough. I'm going to need another one as this is in a mess. I'll send it off to the place Colin suggested for a quote

[08/10/07]
Light
I must get more light in the worksop as I thought the furrow wheel was ready for painting but on closer inspection it was still full of rust. It was the light reflecting off the surface that made me think I'd finished. It was colin's plough pictures that have inspired me to want to finish my plough. I'd still like to have a go at ploughing this year.

I seem to increasingly be getting people sending me pictures and information about there tractors/restorations which is great. I love to see what everyone else is up to. I do think I should make another page to add all of these people to it, an "other peoples fergies" page. Then averyone will get there 15mins of fame.

[04/10/07]
Plough envy

Hi Colin,
I have to say I'm very jealous of your restored 2 furrow plough and sub soiler and the fact your 2 furrow plough has the width adjustment. Was your tractor always that colour? I hope so. I hope you keep it that colour. It's nice to see the industrial models in Yellow and the army models green.

Is the plaque on the sub soiler new? Where did you get this from? Did you manage to get it stamped with your serial number and model number? You have the scraper on the plough furrow a nice touch. I see you have painted the mouldboards and the landside, is it shinny underneath? Will you be taking these ploughs ploughing?

I haven't added any rust prevention under the paint I thought the paint was the rust stopper.

Hi Tim I hope this e-mail finds you well. I see your still working on your plough. I regularly look at your web site. I have finished mine and also a sub soiler. So I thought I would send you some photos of the finished job. I have started working on my ex KCC tractor, which is now in a large amount of bits. It’s going to take a long time to complete. One question I was going to ask you is, do you use any rust prevention before you put a primmer coat on. I have not on may implement but was thinking about it on the tractor. It’s difficult to now what to do for the best and what to use. Any ideas? The photo of the tractor which my son Jack on, is the tractor which I have started working on. Colin Slattery

I have also had an email from Tony Bennett of Denmark about the plough page. Its going to take me some time to go through what he's saying so it will be after the weekend before I have an answer. I'm also going to get a friend on it. I will reply soon.

[02/09/07]
Wood.
I would have loved one of the wood splitter that Graham is selling to attach to the PTO of my tractor. I can't help thinking £600 is a lot of money for what it is. Take a look at it in action on Grahams website.

PTO Wood Splitter

So instead I have had to split it all by hand. A lot cheeper and it keeps you warm twice. I made the log store myself. It cost £25 for the wood and a couple of hours putting it together.

[01/09/07]
A have had great delight in converting a printed copy of this Horse plough Glossary into an electronic copy for the website.

View the page here: Horse ploughing Glossary

[30/09/07]
Holland Brand Workshops.
I dream of having a workshop that looks like this!

It seems that in the months since the split between Bryony and Mark, Holland Brand Workshops has been very busy repairing Fergusons. I have been reading with glee all the things they have been doing. I am also finding the connecting pipes in the fuel system a nightmare to sort out. I haven't seen any solutions for replacing these tubes from the major suppliers. Its nice to see bespoke solutions to the tubing problems.

Read what they have been doing here Holland Brand Workshops
I like the clear photographs and the graph paper background on this website. I Love the methodical way the workshop is laid out, Is it down to a womens touch?

[27/09/07]
Plough Progress.
Great work this evening assembling the furrow wheel assembly. I still have to clean up and paint the furrow wheel itself.

This casting has finally received it last coat of ferguson paint. I was proud to come up with the idea of the end covers to protect the bearings inside from dust, debris and paint getting in whilst restoring the casting. The bearings looked fine and I didn't want to disturb them in there mounting position.

After inserting this piece I had a panic about the cotter pin or split pin. What is the correct way to bend them, How far should you bend them. the internet came up trumps again. (see diagram below or check on the link to see the full document)

I've used bicycle inner tubes to protect all the bearing surfaces to try and stop them getting damaged or covered with paint. The sheet in the background showing the relevant page from the 1947 plough parts manual, without which I'd be lost putting this back together the right way.

I still haven't sourced a scraper for the furrow wheel, not to concerned at this stage ther is still a long way to go.

The garage requires a major reorganise to enable me to have the tractor and the fully assembled plough in at the same time and be able to shut the door.

The starting cogs don't seem in bad shape after people from the Fofh forum have advised me.

[20/09/07]
Problems Starting
I have increasingly been having problems starting the tractor. After seeking the advise of the FoFH Forum members (and what I thought was wrong) I have unbolted the starter to look at the condition of the gear attached to the flywheel and the gear attached to the starter. I'm not 100% sure but I think the results speak for themselves. (see below pictures)

[08/09/07]
What a 5 star weekend it has been.
After spending all this time fixing my tractor I have forgotten that it was actually meant to be used!
I haven’t driven to a fell race this year but today there has been a race at the Longshaw sheep dog trials which seemed an ideal event. The weather was fine and at about half an hours drive by tractor it seemed the right distance. The sheep dog trials at Longshaw are I understand the oldest in the world at 109 years this year. It was the place the TV cameras first went to later become one man and his dog!
I faired averagely time at the 5 mile race I was surprised when I won a prize for first running to finish who arrived on a tractor. This was the first prize I’ve won for fell running. The smile on my face driving home was twice as big as it normally is when I’m driving my tractor.

Hands off David its mine! Get your own.

On Saturday afternoon I spent 3hours driving backwards and forwards to collect a pile of wood a local tree surgeon had left for me as I am stocking up for the winter. The £10 link box I bought some time ago paid for itself making the 5 journeys. I don’t think there is anything wrong with the hydraulics as it coped with the weight easily. I was scared at one point when the front end became light after piling the wood a little too high.

I am increasingly having trouble starting the tractor. Some investigation is needed. The electrics seem fine its something mechanical. Most probably a worn pinion and gear ring.

[02/08/07]
Two new DVD's available:

I've ordered my copy of each so I'll tell you what I think when they arrive. I like the way you can order online from the website and use paypal to pay for them it saves entering all your address and credit card information. From the description they sound very different to anything available at the moment. I'd love to know who has all this original material still. I have currently a video of the ferguson production line at Banner Lane from the engineering side this is fascinating to see the ferguson tractor go together so effortlessly.

Even if your not interested in buying the dived's go and have a look at some stills from the films on the website.

One of the stills from the first dived

Available online from: http://www.secondsightproductions.co.uk/

[23/08/07]
Another great letter in.
Hi Tim, no I don't pave the scraper it wasn't with the plough when I bought it. Yes I'm in our Derby office all the time so the places you suggest I'll give a try. Also not far away is Patrick at www.Fergiland.co.uk

I don't think I have ever used any barbed wire so I'd be interested to know which photo you mean. Thanks for your email please get snapping and send in your pictures please. I hope to have a Video Podcast shortly of the furrow wheel going back together!

Hi Tim Have been keeping track of your activities on your web site for some months and am heartened by your approach to your Ferguson restorations. Just a note - your furrow wheel seems to be missing a bit, the furrow wheel scraper, have you got one or was it just missing out on the photo opportunity? A couple of good local suppliers - Pugh and Sanders in Derby (01332 206770) seem to hold a reasonable stock of imperial nuts and bolts etc and are happy to sell 1 or 7 or whatever at a reasonable cost. Better Metal Stores Ltd in Alfreton (01773 832238) are not afraid to sell you small odds and sods of metal and are more competitively priced than Egglestons. I notice from one of your photos of the rear end of your tractor you use Derbyshire Barbed Wire to tie on your number plate - when I get my digital camera up and running, I will send a photo or two of a more elegant and practical solution Best Wishes Tim Sutton Makeney Derbyshire

[17/08/07]
I'm getting close to finishing the furrow wheel assembly. Just two Items left.

[15/08/07]

Hi Tim, Here are a couple of pictures,the first one is my TE-F which I purchased on ebay this January,it starts but needs a complete engine rebuild.The second is a 2 furrow Massey-Ferguson plough it looks like a later model than yours but apart from that I do not know its year of manufacture. This was given to me by one of my customers,the university campus where he works is closing down.It was delivered I believe with a TE-F tractor some time in the 50's. I was also given the instruction books for both the plough and tractor(long gone) still in their wax type envelopes.The plan is to restore them both and plough with them,30 years ago this September I started at Ryecotewood Agricultural college on the OND course which was basically a feeder to Silsoe,but this did not suit me along with a good few others so we switched to the city and guilds 030 Ag Engineering which also ran there.Unfortunately we missed the first term where they went out ploughing on their practical lessons so I have never had the opportunity to learn as basically there is not much in the way of agriculture where I live in the London Borough of Sutton.Storage as you mentioned is also a problem this would not be possible for me except a good customer works at a large school with plenty of space to keep them in a disused walled garden where once all the vegetables, flowers etc were grown to meet the schools needs.I have a web site www.Fergusonshed.com but only the front page is up as I hope to start some time in the autumn. Best Regards Paul. but only the front page is up as I hope to start some time in the autumn. Best Regards Paul.

[13/08/07]
I had a great reply from one of the FoFH Forum members today, thanks Chris.

I have stopped all of the email links on the page as I'm sick of getting junk email so I stopped all the links to email my email address. It still works you just need to type in the emial address.

Hi Tim Just been looking at your web site, its great, from the Forum link. On your review of the FoFH open day at Catthorpe you have a picture on my yellow 35X, you say as it is yellow it must be ex council. It is in fact a 35X Highways, a version built with twin rear brakes to comply with the then new health & safety laws. Yellow is the colour MF sold it in, I bought mine from its original owners. It is very difficult to find a live link on your site through which to post comments, all the ones I found were dead. Chris.

[09/08/07]
The summer is slipping by
I was out and about the other week and went for a good hour drive round. It was so much fun.
I got from ALDI a set of wire brushes that you attach to a drill. I found an old drill in the shed. So I spent the evening wire brushing part of the plough furrow wheel. I'll try to get a photo. I got a primer coat on it as well. I really want to get the plough working before september. The biggest problem I have is space. Where am I going to put a whole plough. A friend of mine left his outside the front of his house and it got stolen. Probably for scrap!

The house diy is taking priority so I'll have to just do a bit here and there. I don't know why but this months tractor and machinery is ace. I can't put it down.

[04/07/07]
I have updated the lighting section and will continue to update it over the next week or so. I'm tryig to give people the most choice for getting hold of these parts. still to track down fold out side light mountings, wiring looms also so check out.

[31/05/07]
Be careful out there, tractors are very dangerous things and if you get it wrong you can end up loosing your life. Please be careful.
Article here

I've been to Jura (a Scotish island) for a fell race and on the way cycled across Islay I came across two fergusons used for peat fuel carrying I think.

You can see more pictures of these tractor on the TE-F20 section of the website

[23/05/07]
I promised I wouldn't buy any thing else of eBay. but then this came up from the same lady I got the TE-F20 parts manual.

Ferguson service manual for the TE20 range of tractors.
A very rare and original manual .The cover is slightly marked as to be expected but all the contents are unmarked
and is complete with no pages missing.
Range covered.
TE.A20 TED.20 TEH.20 TEF.20 TEC.20 TEE.20
Genuine MHF publication

I've only ever seen a poor quality photocopy of this manual so I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on it. Largely I think as there are lots of photo's in the manual which I will be able to see in there original form.

[18/05/07]
The ferguson TE-F20 parts book is great. worth every penny. on the opening page it has a list of how to identify all the nuts bolts etc in the manual. I've scanned this and turned it into a PDF document. it can be downloaded HERE. its about a 1mag in size but well worth and it will print out on one A4 sheet.

[15/05/07]
It seems from the website holland-brand is no more. Not really sure what's happened. I don't think I want to know, anyway Graham and Mark can currently be found at www.tractorbits.com

Thinks are going really slow webwise at the moment there is a lot going on. I have managed to finish 2 plough parts though. The bracket for the spring on the furrow wheel is the first and the two brackets that hold the furrow wheel on the second. Next to tackle is the arm for the furrow wheel. Its in two parts so I can break it down.

I also have lots of website stuff to update.

[14/05/07]
Anniversary
Its been 2 years since I drove to my wedding on my tractor.

Whilst browsing eBay for furniture I found this (TE-F20 Parts List) I don't really bother with eBay anymore as the prices are shocking and there is no guarantee of winning anything.

Anyway I won.

It looks like a late copy as it has Massey -Harris- Ferguson typed on the bottom. So it should cover the later TE-F20 with the fuel lift pump.

[12/05/07]
Pictures added of a fine example of a FE35

[08/04/07]
Festival Weekend
I had a great time this past weekend, Firstly at Beamish open air museum. They where having a steam weekend. It was great to see all the Engines parading around the site. There is a page here with all the photo's from the two days.

[30/04/07]

So much to add so little time.

I've got so much to add today all tractor related.

On 6-7th May in Doncaster (not to far from where I live) there will be the European Festival of the Plough. Its organised by the Society of ploughmen www.ploughmen.co.uk details on the website. As well as the European reversible ploughing championships there will be Vintage ploughing. The start for this is 9:30am and I'm keen to get there early to watch the first furrow going in. £5 entry for adults Lots to see, demonstrations, trade stands should make a good morning.

This coming wednesday [02/05/07] Grand Designs on channel 4, 8pm the program about building your own house features "one man and a tractor" and guess what make his tractor is. Yep its a fergie with high lift loader. You can also watch the program for up to a week after via the channel 4 website.

I came across a great publication in my local news agent the other day called Practical Farm Ideas www.farmideas.co.uk You can download a trial copy of the magazine for free. It packed full of great ideas. If anyone has any old copies I'd love to have the chance to read them.

Autodesk Inventor, This is the software I use at work. someone has used it to model a Mamod steam engine. I'd like to use it to model a ferguson Tractor.

We had a couple of friends up from London this weekend so we went to David Mellor's shop in the peak district. David Mellor is famous for designing things including traffic lights and cutlery. So I was suppressed to see a MF135 in front of the cafe. I was even more surprised by the colour they have painted it! See what you think. The building in the first photograph is the cutlery workshop

[26/04/07]

Strumpshaw.
We went to see some friends who live in Norfolk recently and we went to visit Strumpshaw steam museum. www.strumpshawsteammuseum.co.uk. It was great. lots of old steam engines so look at. I would recommend going on a day when they have one of the traction engines fired up and working. it makes the place come alive.

This is the engine in steam when I was there Princess Royal

And this is what it sounds like.........

Download the sound of steam

It was recorded on my phone so the quality is not that great but it gives you the idea especially if you put it on loop.

[23/04/07]

The spark for all this activity. I found it. About 3 months ago I looked high and low for the only missing plough part. It is a two part bracket that holds the furrow wheel on. It was in a cleaning solution in the cupboard in the garage.

You can't really see the parts in question so I took them out and cleaned them up.

I've come to the conclusion I am never going to get enough time or money to restore the mower. I think to many of the parts are either missing or need replacing. Its off to the scrap yard. but not before offering any of the parts on the FOFH website. It also looks an eye saw in the garden. I'm going to move the plough out of the garage and into its place.

[20/04/07]

Tool envy.
I've seen the tool wall that the Holland-Brand lot are constructing and I have to say I'm jealous. First I wish I had that many tool, second I wish I had that much wall to hang them on and finally I wish I'd have the chance to use all those tools.

photo from www.holland-brand.co.uk

[02/04/07]

I got this great email from John Morris about the first picture I had poster on the FOFH Day page on the website. the tractor is unusual because it is green. and what follows is the story behind its colour.

Hello I was searching the Web for items "Ferguson Tractor " as you do, when I came across your site which I had not seen before. First I clicked on the Plough and I was going to ask if you have had chance to use it but it looks like you are still painting. Then I clicked on FOFH and the first picture was My Tractor what a surprise! The picture was taken at Cathorpe on the Saturday practice match. The furrow looks straight but I am having trouble burying all the stubble. The answer to your question, the tractor is Green because it is Ex Military. It has a brass plate on the side of the gearbox headed "Ministry of Supply" with details of the tractor serial number and a military registration number as follows 17 BY 31.If you look you can see it painted on the axle just as they used to be done. I also have an age related number on a plate mounted on the wing where it is more visible for when I need to travel on the road to local matches. I can not find much about its history but I think the tractor was used with a mower to cut grass around the army base. John Morris

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