A parade of “70 tractors for 70 years” of history of Massey Ferguson
On July 30th, the historic parade “70 tractors for 70 years,” celebrated in the English city of Coventry the anniversary of the start of production of the flagship tractor Ferguson TE20, affectionately known as the “Little Grey Fergie”, whose first model came out, in July 1946, from the assembly line of the old production plant Banner Lane in Coventry. The tractor was the brainchild of engineer and inventor, Harry Ferguson, founder of what is now known as Massey Ferguson, a worldwide brand of AGCO (NYSE: AGCO), one of the world’s leading producers of agricultural machinery to markets worldwide.
The parade and exhibition of old and new machines was organized by Coventry Culture to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the start of production of its iconic model Ferguson TE20. Tractors which participated in the event were collected by the Club of Friends of Ferguson Heritage. Headed by a Ferguson TE20 20 hp 1947, equipped with a double plow, and the MF 8737 imposing 400 hp, the most powerful tractor in the current range of Massey Ferguson, this way the parade made its way from Coventry, ending at the Plaza Milleniun, outside the Museum of Transport.
Exceptionally, the MF 8737, was not a family Massey Ferguson red. In this case, the tractor had been specially prepared by Massey Ferguson with a striking black paint to make a nod to the prototype Ferguson a black tractor 1933, which was the first to incorporate the pioneering ideas of Harry Ferguson for coupling system three points for connecting the tractor and implement.
As a tribute to the legacy manufacturing plant Banner Lane, Massey Ferguson has named black tractor MF 8737 as “Coventry City”. During the time the parade, sitting in the cockpit was the mayor of Coventry, Director Lindsley Harvard.
“It was wonderful and incredible to see this parade celebrating the brilliant engineering Ferguson TE20 that changed the world of agricultural mechanization” said Campbell Scott, Director of Marketing of Massey Ferguson (himself drove a TE20, 1949, Blue Brigthton Corporation) “we are very proud of this extraordinary legacy of viable and innovative technology that continues to inspire our design engineers and is in the heart of the mission of Massey Ferguson in this century, to manufacture, reliable equipment, easy to increase efficiency and productivity of farmers around the world. Today, more than 200,000 tractors carry our famous Massey Ferguson, the ‘Triple Triangle’ brand and are manufactured each year to markets around the world ”
Tractors took part in the parade showed the wide range of tractors there from Ferguson, the Massey-Harris and Massey Ferguson, all machines manufactured since 1946. The tractor which came from further away for the event was a Ferguson TE20, 1949 equipped with half-track and has travelled nearly 200 miles (322 km) from Exeter in Devon. From much closer came a Dyna4 MF5610 with turf tires, based on Finham, Coventry.
As singular note and representing the range of non-agricultural tractors of this brand, MF 65, an award-winning industrial tractor delicately restored, painted yellow, which came from Skipton, Yorkshire.
Between July 6, 1946 and July 13, 1956, more than half a million Ferguson TE20 tractors were manufactured in Banner Lane plant. The key to the overall success of the tractor was its unique coupling system implements the third point, controlled hydraulically, replacing the previous method hitch implements. Ferguson System is called and turned the tractor and the implement in a single unit of work.
Massey Ferguson is a global leader in agricultural equipment, producing a wide range of tractors, harvesting equipment and agricultural implements. Its known red equipment is distributed in 140 countries.
Established in 1994, the club of the Friends of Ferguson’s legacy has more than 500 members around the world who are dedicated to everything related to Ferguson, Massey Ferguson and Massey Harris.
Another event that has inspired the 70th anniversary of the Ferguson TE20 is the current exhibition of Coventry Culture “Tractors: from factory to field” at the Museum of Transportation Coventry (which runs until 19 September) and public exhibition bronze sculpture of Daniel Massey in the museum of the city of Herbet and Art Gallery. Coventry Culture manages three of the major tourist attractions in Coventry, including the Museum of Transport, Herbert Museum and Art Gallery and Lunt Roman Fort.
Source: AGCO (NYSE: AGCO)
