“Are you sure you’re not just being a bit puritanical?”
(It’s much less satisfying arguing with Mike than with Vera or Pappa. What an achievement, pulling this much younger bird. Yet all the men I talk to-without any exception, Mike” (I wag my finger) “they respond with these wry knowing smiles, these little admiring chuckles. They see a vulnerable old man who’s being exploited. “It’s funny, but when I talk about this business of my father and Valentina with my women friends, they’re absolutely appalled. Ferguson will be remembered for bringing together two great engineering stories of our time, the tractor and the family car, agriculture and transport, both of which have contributed so richly to the well-being of mankind.” The biggest challenge for Ferguson was the move from petrol-driven to diesel-driven engines and his success gave rise to the famous TE-20, of which more than half a million were built in the UK. But this design had to be modified, because petrol was still rationed in the post-war period. He approached the Standard Motor Company at Coventry with a plan, to adapt the Vanguard car for use as tractor. Undaunted in spirit, Ferguson had a new idea. Ferguson claimed $240 million, but was awarded only $9.25 million. Ferguson’s open and cheerful nature was no match for the ruthless mentality of the American businessman. However, this agreement by a handshake collapsed in 1947 when Henry Ford II took over the empire of his father, and started to produce a new Ford 8N tractor, using the Ferguson system. This Ford-Ferguson partnership gave to the world a new type of Fordson tractor far superior to any that had been known before, and the precursor of all modern-type tractors. So he made an informal agreement with Henry Ford, sealed only by a handshake. He needed a larger company to produce his design. The Ferguson design was more advanced, and made use of hydraulic linkage, but Ferguson knew that despite his engineering genius, he could not achieve his dream on his own.
Ford, meanwhile, was developing its own tractors. This plough was mounted on the rear of the tractor, and through ingenious use of balance springs it could be raised or lowered by the driver using a lever beside his seat. Harry Ferguson’s first two-furrow plough was attached to the chassis of the Ford Model T car converted into a tractor, aptly named Eros. But he soon came to believe that improving efficiency of food production would be his unique service to mankind. It is said that he was the first man in Great Britain to build and fly his own aircraft in 1909.
Ireland’s contribution to the history of tractors is the genius engineer Harry Ferguson, who was born in 1884, near Belfast.įerguson was a clever and mischievous man, who also had a passion for aviation. “Ireland, like Ukraine, is a largely rural country which suffers from its proximity to a more powerful industrialised neighbour.
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