The Ferguson system, also known as the Ferguson three-point linkage system, is one of the world’s most important developments in tractor design. Even today, most tractors still use the three-point linkage system, though the tractors that carry this linkage system have become far larger and more sophisticated than anything Harry Ferguson could ever have imagined.
Harry Ferguson, born in 1884, came from a modest background. He was born on a farm in Growell, in what’s now Northern Ireland. Growing up on the family farm, Ferguson experienced plenty of the hard toil that was central to farming at the time, and he became determined to change the face of agriculture by making it more efficient and less labor-intensive.
Ferguson was fascinated by machinery, so when he was given the chance to leave the farming life and the graft that went with it, he grasped the opportunity with both hands. He left to work alongside his older brother in a garage, which suited him far better than working on the land ever had.
Working with engines allowed Ferguson to hone his talents. He dabbled in motorcycle racing, and he even designed and flew his own airplane. In 1911, he went into business on his own, becoming an agent for Vauxhall Motors.
However, Ferguson never forgot his farming roots, and during World War I, he began to focus on farm machinery. Ferguson could see that Ireland desperately needed to increase productivity, because farmers were still farming in an old-fashioned way, and he felt it was high time to fully embrace mechanization.
With hopes of selling tractors to those still using horses on the land, Ferguson became an agent for Overtime tractors. “Overtime” was the British name for the American Waterloo Boy tractors that were imported to help Britain produce more food. It’s thought that Ferguson imported around 250 Overtime tractors into Ireland, and it’s claimed that he personally demonstrated each of these tractors to its new owners. At the time, many Irish farmers were still farming in a simple, pastoral way, and tractors were seen as far too costly for all but the largest farms.
The Irish Board of Agriculture soon became aware of Ferguson’s demonstrations with Overtime tractors, and they asked him to assist with improving the tractor handling skills of Irish farmers, many of whom were totally unfamiliar with tractors. Ferguson’s new role involved traveling around farms, showing farmers how to use these new machines effectively.
In his work as a demonstrator, Ferguson noticed that most of the implements farmers were using with their new tractors were the old-style “pull along” horse-drawn implements, and he felt there had to be a better way of using them than simply dragging them along in the same way it’d been done for centuries.
In a bid to improve the design of tractor-drawn implements, Ferguson designed a lightweight plow that could be easily lifted out of the ground. Ferguson designed his new plow to attach to the tractor at a point in front of the rear axle, a position that gave the tractor better traction and improved stability. The problem was, with several different makes of tractor in use, it was difficult to come up with a plow design that would work with every different type of tractor. To get around this, Ferguson decided to work with just one make of tractor, and he chose the “Eros,” which was a tractor that had been converted from a Ford Model T car and had been built by the E.G. Staude Manufacturing Co. of St. Paul, Minnesota.
Ferguson’s plow became known as the Belfast Plough, and it went into production. Unfortunately, the introduction of the plow coincided with the arrival of large numbers of Fordson tractors from America. Fordson tractors became popular, and the Eros tractor fell by the wayside, and Ferguson’s plow along with it.
So, Ferguson began to work on a new type of plow, and this time he designed it specifically to be used on the Fordson tractor. The resulting plow featured what became known as the “duplex” hitch, and it’s now considered to be Ferguson’s first step towards creating a three-point  linkage system.
The development of Ferguson’s new plow led him to the U.S. where he met the Sherman brothers, Eber and George. The trio formed a company named Ferguson-Sherman Inc., based in Evansville, and began manufacturing a plow for the Fordson Model F tractor. By 1928, however, Henry Ford decided to shift production of Fordson tractors to Ireland. This, unfortunately, led to the demise of the Ferguson-Sherman Co. With the Sherman collaboration over, Ferguson focused instead on developing new ideas. He replaced his earlier duplex hitch with a new arrangement based on three linkage points.
The Birth of the Ferguson-Brown tractor
In 1933, in a bid to get his three-point linkage system out in the marketplace, Ferguson designed and built a prototype tractor, now known as “the Black Tractor.” This prototype was called the Black Tractor simply because it was painted black, but far more important than the livery was the fact that this tractor featured the first three-point linkage system, or at least an early version of it. Ferguson’s Black Tractor still exists and is currently housed at the Ulster Transport Museum in Northern Ireland.
When he built the Black Tractor, Ferguson used gears supplied by a company called David Brown, based in Huddersfield, England. Ferguson must have been suitably impressed by David Brown, because in 1935, he entered a manufacturing agreement with the company, and together they went on to produce Ferguson’s first commercial tractor, the Ferguson-Brown, which rolled off the production line in 1936.
This revolutionary tractor, featuring the world’s first hydraulic lift and three-point linkage system, came at a price — a price that was almost double that of the price of Fordson tractor. The Ferguson-Brown tractor was painted grey, a color that remained standard for Ferguson tractors right up until Massey-Harris came on the scene.
Buying one of these new, and rather expensive, Ferguson-Brown tractors also meant investing in a whole load of new implements that were specially designed to work with the revolutionary hydraulic system. This meant that buying into the Ferguson system was an expensive business, a fact that inevitably resulted in sales being rather slow.
Gradually, the relationship between David Brown and Ferguson began to deteriorate. The company wanted to increase the power of the tractor in order to boost sales, but Ferguson, who always found it difficult to work with others, refused. David Brown began to work on plans to produce its own tractor, one that would feature the improvements that he considered essential, and in the meantime, Ferguson decided to take the Ferguson-Brown tractor to the U.S.A. to see what Henry Ford thought of it.
The Handshake Agreement with Henry Ford
It was in the autumn of 1938 that Henry Ford first saw Ferguson’s tractor being demonstrated, and it’s said that, on that very day, the two men shook hands, having come to an agreement to work together to produce a new tractor. It’s also said that this agreement, which would have involved all of Ferguson’s designs and patents and a huge amount of Henry Ford’s money, was never formally witnessed or written down. The tractor that was the result of this handshake agreement was the Ford 9N.
Both Ford and Ferguson agreed their new tractor was going to help bring mechanization to the world, and, to achieve this, they had to keep the cost of the tractor as low as possible for it to be within financial reach of all farmers. The 9N tractor sold well in the U.S., but in Britain, things didn’t go quite as well as Ferguson had planned. Ferguson had hoped that the British branch of the Ford empire would adopt his ideas, but this never happened. During WWII, it was almost impossible to introduce a new tractor, so Ferguson’s plans for entering the British tractor market had to be put on the back burner.
Going his own way
Once Ferguson realized that the British end of the Ford market wasn’t going to help him produce a tractor for the British market, he looked around for alternatives. Ferguson found that the well-established Standard Motor Co. had empty factory space and was willing to collaborate. Ferguson entered into an agreement with the Standard, and Ferguson tractors began to be built at the factory in Banner Lane, Coventry, England. By late 1946, the first Ferguson TE20 tractors were rolling off the production line.
Initially, the tractors were fitted with an American “Continental” engine, but by 1948, a British engine built by Standard became available. Meanwhile in Detroit, Ferguson’s TO-20 tractor was being built (the letters T.O. standing for “Tractor Overseas”). The design of the Ferguson tractor, of course, featured many of Ferguson’s ideas, but it can’t be denied that the overall look of the tractor was heavily influenced by the Ford 9N.
Ferguson was at last making his own way in the world and becoming hugely successful. He had gone from being a farmer’s son in Ireland to a Rolls Royce driver with an estate in the Cotswolds, England. But going his own way in business wasn’t a straightforward move for Ferguson, for the informal handshake agreement he had with Henry Ford had become something of a problem. Ferguson felt that his designs and patents had been crucial to the design of the 9N, and he was unwilling to accept Ford’s out-of-court settlement offer. The legal proceeding dragged on for over four years, with Ferguson eventually agreeing to a settlement in 1952.
Ferguson Legacy
Today, Ferguson tractors are among the most popular, and, dare I say it, commonplace, tractors we see in shows and events here in the U.K. Huge numbers of these simple, reliable tractors were made, which means they still exist in large numbers today. For that reason, they’ve long been one of the more affordable collectable tractors. Some might say that the Ferguson is a great “entry level” collectable tractor, because it’s relatively inexpensive, simple to use, and, due to the popularity of these tractors, spare and replacement parts are readily available.
However, there are many Ferguson enthusiasts that go on to specialize in collecting these tractors, for there isn’t just one model available — there are several. As well as the U.S.-built version, there are various U.K. versions, including a petrol version, a TVO (tractor vaporizing oil) version, a diesel version, and a narrow version (designed for working in vineyards). Then there are those Ferguson tractors that have a variety of different aftermarket conversions, so the collecting of Ferguson tractors is a hobby that can  easily escalate!
One of the most unusual recent Ferguson conversions I’ve seen is an electric Ferguson tractor, which was designed and built as a one-off by collector Keith Atkinson in his workshop in Lancashire, England. Keith had heard all of the hype about electric cars, and he had what he describes as “a funny little idea” that he could make himself an electric tractor using an old airport luggage tug and a scrap Ferguson tractor.
Keith is keen to point out that the Ferguson tractor that he used for this project was “only half a tractor” in that the engine had totally seized up, because he wouldn’t like anyone to think he had destroyed a perfectly good tractor in order to experiment! The resulting tractor works perfectly, and it can even be used for plowing. Keith says that without the sound of an engine, he can hear the sound of the plow as it moves through the soil, which isn’t something one usually hears when plowing with a tractor. This amazing project has attracted a lot of attention and is a testament to how the Ferguson legacy still lives on today. FC
Josephine Roberts lives on an old-fashioned smallholding in Snowdonia, North Wales, and has a passion for all things vintage. Email her at josiewales2021@aol.com
