Ferguson Company

Henry George (Harry) Ferguson (1884-1960) was the son of an Irish farmer.

During his early twenties he was already an accomplished mechanic and engineer. He worked for his brother and he was involved as a pilot with a range of racing aircraft. He built and flew, in Ireland and elsewhere, a number of aircraft. He designed and built a number of experimental ploughs and designed an advanced model suitable for use on the Ford Motor Company's model 9N Fordson tractor.

He surmised that the tractor hitch was the key to having a better plough and a simpler tractor attachment for it.

About 1934, in company with David Brown (entrepreneur) he formed the Ferguson-Brown Company and they produced the Model A Ferguson-Brown tractor with a Ferguson-designed hydraulic system.

In 1938 he made a handshake agreement with Henry Ford to produce "Ferguson System" tractors. Some of these did not have the hydraulic mounting for implements that was later to be a feature of the TE20 series tractors.

In 1946 the Ford Motor Company parted from Ferguson and a protracted lawsuit followed involving Ford's continued use of Ferguson's patents. Ferguson took the opportunity to have the Standard Motor Company of the UK produce a new design, the Model TE20. The model name came from Tractor, England 20 horsepower but is affectionately known as the Little Grey Fergie. The TE20 used tractor vapourising oil (TVO) for fuel. Ford ultimately settled the legal proceedings with a multi-million dollar sum that allowed Ferguson to expand his manufacturing. Tractors were manufactured in various countries and the basic TE20 designation was amended to suit sales and facilities in different countries.

There is a monument in Wentworth on the junction of the Darling and Murray Rivers in Australia commemorating the time in 1956 when both rivers flooded and a fleet of little grey Fergies was used to build levee banks to save the town.

The principle feature of the Ferguson System was the 3-point linkage. This allowed trailed implements to be supported on a hydraulic system with the two drag links attached under the rear axle and a single compression link, connected to the upper rear transmission case, that was automatically regulating the hydraulic suspension's height. Thus the implement could be built at a minimum weight because it needed no attached wheels, manual controls and so on. It was also assisting the tractor to maintain traction because it was applying a combined drag and rotary force to the axle that kept the driving wheels, on that axle, on the ground and the steering wheels held onto the ground too. Consequently the "rearing and bucking" of overloaded tractors was overcome, making tractors much safer.

Ferguson designs for tractors were the first with single-wheel brakes that allowed the driver to turn sharply by braking the inside wheel. The TE20 was one of the first tractors to have a four-speed gearbox with integrated Differential (automotive) and hydraulic system.

In 1953 Ferguson and Massey-Harris merged and the combined company Massey-Ferguson-Harris became the manufacturer of the tractors and other designs. By then many manufacturers had developed their own 3-point linkage and the linkage become standardised worldwide.

External links

• History of Ferguson System
• Henry George (Harry) Ferguson
• Massey Harris & Massey Ferguson Tractors discussion
• Harry Ferguson tractors
• Harry Ferguson—visionary and inventor
• Ferguson Family Museum
• Fergie in Wentworth