American Tractors in Great Britain

By Sam Moore
Published on November 11, 2016
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A steam plowing set that was part of the Ministry of Munitions order on the move between jobs, sometime in the 1920s. The engines, and probably the plow and cultivator, were built by Fowler. The rear engine is pulling the crew’s living van.
A steam plowing set that was part of the Ministry of Munitions order on the move between jobs, sometime in the 1920s. The engines, and probably the plow and cultivator, were built by Fowler. The rear engine is pulling the crew’s living van.
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A group of RASC soldiers learning to plow with a Saunderson tractor. The Saunderson was built in Elstow, Bedford, England.
A group of RASC soldiers learning to plow with a Saunderson tractor. The Saunderson was built in Elstow, Bedford, England.
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An example of the Overtime tractor, an American-made Waterloo Boy renamed for the British trade.
An example of the Overtime tractor, an American-made Waterloo Boy renamed for the British trade.
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A detachment of the RASC Fodder Baling Corps, with Burrell steam engines, Ruston balers, and living and cooking vans in tow. “It’s speculation on my part,” Sam Moore says, “but I’d guess the women were along to cook for the troops.” The 3-wheeled car in the foreground, an early Morgan, is undoubtedly for the use of the commanding officer. The Morgan firm continues to produce 3-wheelers today.
A detachment of the RASC Fodder Baling Corps, with Burrell steam engines, Ruston balers, and living and cooking vans in tow. “It’s speculation on my part,” Sam Moore says, “but I’d guess the women were along to cook for the troops.” The 3-wheeled car in the foreground, an early Morgan, is undoubtedly for the use of the commanding officer. The Morgan firm continues to produce 3-wheelers today.
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This 1915 Weeks-Dungey tractor was built in Maidstone, Kent, England.
This 1915 Weeks-Dungey tractor was built in Maidstone, Kent, England.

One hundred years ago, Europe was in turmoil. The Great War had begun in August 1914, pitting the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary (soon to be joined by the Ottoman Empire) against the Allies of Great Britain, France and Russia. In early 1915, Germany declared all waters around the British Isles a war zone and warned that any ship, neutral or not, would be sunk by its submarines.

British agricultural production had declined severely since 1875. Prices for farm products had fallen while landowners raised rents to the tenant farmers, causing many to leave the farm. Agriculture had long been Britain’s major industry, but by the early 1900s, the country was no longer able to supply all of its own food and had to rely on imports. This, of course, played right into the hands of the Germans, who promised the U-boat blockade would stop all imports to the island nation, threatening the British people with starvation.

Tractors and manpower in short supply

County Agricultural Committees were set up all over England. Their duties included the survey of uncultivated land, registration of all farms over 5 acres, supply and distribution of manure, and cultivation of crops and vegetables, as well as training women for farm work, and allocating machinery and labor. They also decreed that hundreds of thousands of acres of grassland be plowed up and put into crops. 

But who was to do the work, and with what? All existing idle farm machinery was inventoried. That turned up a fair amount of the heavy steam plowing and cultivating tackle so popular in Britain, but not enough experienced hands to operate it. Urgent requests were made that experienced farm workers be excused from military service or returned if already enlisted.

The fact that British farmers were horse farmers and tractors had little attraction for them caused another big problem for the committees. Huge numbers of horses were requisitioned for the military, while investigation revealed few tractors on hand. For example, in Steam Plough Times, Peter Longfoot notes this finding by the committee in Kent County (which encompassed 1,442 square miles: “There were 21 Overtimes, 13 Weeks-Dungey (a tractor built in Maidstone, Kent), eight Moguls, two Saundersons, one Standard and one Martin Motor Plough reported as fit for work.

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