>I believe that Harry Ferguson revolutionised the tractor by fitting
three
>point hydraulics to this model, but the downside of this was that the
>(already light) tractor became very light in the nose when any sort
of load
>was carried out the back - this very nearly lead to my demise when
the
>tractor effectively lost steering when going along a rather steep
hill.
>Thankfully I lived to tell the tale...
A near one! Very true the three point linkage revolutionised the
industry. As I recall, MF continued to receive a very handsome royalty
from all its competitors who adopted the same system and this
continued for many years after HF's death.
>Now as to the origins of the 4 cylinder wet-sleeve TR engine - I
heard that
>the original design came from Citrokn (another marque dear to my
heart) and
>that accounted for why a Ferguson spanner would fit a Ferguson
tractor and
>nothing else and no other spanner (except one with sliding jaws)
could be
>used on a Ferguson.
>Is this correct?
I always thought the wet liner concept was American. Equally
interesting that Citroen should adopt it. I know Renault used it for
many years and I think they still do. It's certainly used on all
Renault tractor engines but these are now supplied exclusively from
Deere Power Systems, so no claim can be made that its a French design.
As for the spanners...I seem to remember something along vaguely
similar lines, except that it wasn't the spanners being a different
size but a different 'shape.' Something along the lines of a bicycle
multi-spanner. You got about three spanners in the toolbox that would
undo any nut on a Fergie - but I could be wrong. Bill, my neighbour
who owns the TE20 in the barn would know. He's ex-Ferguson anyway and
has a mind like an elephant. Never forgets anything. I'll revert if I
get an answer.
This theme of fastener sizes is interesting because I believe Ettore
Bugatti used a similar concept inasmuch as a pre-war Bugatti used the
smallest number of different metric sizes on all his cars. Maybe fact,
maybe folklore.
Cheers
John
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