New to me 1956 TO35

[PatrickS2222]

Harry Ferguson invented the Three Point Hitch, which he licensed to Henry Ford in 1939, making the Ford 9N tractor possible. The Ford 9N tractor was also mostly Ferguson's design.

Ferguson was compulsive/obsessive. Ferguson's tractors were the best engineered, best assembled, of their day. You have a classic.

Google: Harry Ferguson

You lucky dog! :thumbsup: What a lovely machine - I'm quite envious! :licking:

As quoted above; additionally:

He invented and patented Draft Control, with the famous lawsuit and huge damages awarded to him after Henry Ford's infringement.

He also insisted on designs allowing the average farmer, with his usually quite rudimentary, mechanical skills to carry out a high percentage of the more straight-forward repairs and maintenance with quite a basic set of tools.

Your machine is a wonderful example to just maintain, "rejuvenate" where required, preserve, include in some displays & shows, make use of where appropriate and otherwise enjoy being its current custodian.

:soapbox: Note: The word "sell" has not been mentioned! :fiery: (Unless you know for certain the next custodian will continue your good work) I'm hoping not to sound over-the-top, but offering encouragement to guys to preserve special models such as this one (as previously quoted) with what appears to be original FEL and backhoe! These machines are disappearing fast and unless action is taken will be gone forever, thanks usually to scrap-metal gatherers sending them mostly to China :thumbsdown::devil: Haven't they stolen enough already (designs/technology/et al)? :guilty: irate:

But enough lamenting what's already happened and cannot be undone.
I wish you well with them all. I will help any way I can, although I don't know everything about them! :scratchchin:

A couple of questions though:
Diesel or petrol engine?
What gearbox ... 3x2?
If so - look in the more protected areas (steering column, front axle mount box etc) for traces of bronze-gold paint, let me know if you find any! :yes:
Overhead or underneath-to-rear exhaust?
Can we see lots more photos? :biggrin:

Please put the wheels on the correct way - they look strange with the front wheels inside-out; and the rear tyre tread backwards :wink:
(Swap the rear wheels side-to-side if you leave them set to their current track width and the front axle can easily be adjusted for wider track).

Again, Huge Congratulations!

 

[shinerm02]

It has a gas engine.
It has two shifters... one says hi lo....the other is R-1-2-3
The exhaust was rusted off at the manifold but I think it has to be underneath to the rear as the FEL might prohibit overhead?

As I scrape off paint layers it goes from green to bright yellow to a deep or darker yellow. The darker yellow seems to be the first color.
From what I have seen I thought it was to be either Beige/Gray or Gray/Green depending how early in 1956 it was? I am not sure on this.

The last picture is from the steering column down below the instrument panel. That is where I scraped the paint away.

 

[jeff9366]

Here is a LINK to IMAGES of Ferguson TO35 tractors produced by Google:

ferguson to35 - Google Search

The "yellow" was called (Ferguson) "Bamboo Beige"

TO35 production: 1955 + 1956



For years Henry Ford would only produce the Model T in black paint.

For years Harry Ferguson would only produce Ferguson tractors in gray paint.

Both eventually relented and produced vehicles in other colors.

 

[PatrickS2222]

Thanks for your help Jeff, I saw some good-looking machines in those pics. :thumbsup:

Guys, I was wondering though, given this tractor's model and its manufacture date, if it was a "Copperbelly". That is, if they were indeed sold in the USA, although I don't believe they were. Perhaps greater minds than mine can enlighten me.

They were apparrently some sort of celebratory series to co-incide with a particular anniversary - I cannot recall which one though. Nowadays, they're a rather sought-after model. :licking: A lot were for some unknown reason repainted the more familiar red over grey - a read through this page will describe one such case in New Zealand at E-mail 21.

Ferguson FE35 Golden Grey | Vintage Tractor Engineer

Or a Google search will find equally-good pics.

My friend's tractor is another example - please see one of my first ever posts.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...vintage/349888-mf-35-still-available-new.html

Yes, I'm still finding time to post pics. Life keeps getting in the way! :confused2:

 

[shinerm02]

I found out this tractor used to belong to the state of Pennsylvania. That might be why it was painted the "yellow" color.
It doesn't have beige anywhere that I have been able to find.

 

[Tompet]

I found out this tractor used to belong to the state of Pennsylvania. That might be why it was painted the "yellow" color.
It doesn't have beige anywhere that I have been able to find.

With state purchase, yellow you referred to sounds right. Here is a link to original fergie colors by model/year. When you do work on it or paint etc. post some updated photos. Let the restoration begin!

http://fergusonenthusiasts.com/restoration helps/paint/Paintschemes.pdf

 

[PatrickS2222]

That's a very interesting and handy color chart - thank you Jeff for the link. Guys, it appears though that no "Copperbellys" went to North America. It could be that they were only built in Coventry (5/1956-12/1957) and exported to South Africa, Australia and some other countries. US models were, I believe, assembled in the USA (please correct me if I am wrong) it appears in Bamboo Beige (in place of the distinct copper-coloured castings) over Flint Grey Metallic. Being an ex-Govt machine nevertheless gives it a degree of exclusivity though. What a lucky duck! I'm really looking towards seeing it all good-as-new again! :licking::licking:

 

[jeff9366]

During the Ford/Ferguson business arrangement, Ford manufactured 306,256 9N and 2N tractors. (No 8Ns in this total)

When Ferguson split with Ford, he began selling Ferguson tractors in the US imported from the Ferguson/Standard partnership in England.

No one would partner with Ferguson in the US, so he began manufacturing the TO-20 in Detroit, without partners, in December 1948.

Ferguson sold to Massey-Harris, which became Massey-Ferguson, in January 1954.

 

[groundcover]

The stories she could tell !

 

[PatrickS2222]

Jeff, with a lineage such as that, and an engineer of Harry Ferguson's talent, no wonder they're as good as they are! :thumbsup:

Groundcover, indeed I hope there are quite a lot preserved that could tell some equally-interesting stories. Think of the many countries they were sold!