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Saturday 17th October 2009 saw the 118th Norton Ploughing Association plough match just south of Sheffield. Roy went along and was kind enough to send in some photo’s I was unable to attend as I was at Beamish.org.uk attending their ploughmatch on the Sunday.

Hi Tim

Norton match was very good the weather and ground superb. I spoke to Maurice Butcher he drove the Bedford lorry at WILSON & SON (Ferguson dealers in Sheffield) for 2 or 3 years in the late 1950’s he know Frank Wilson of course and Freddie Wilson. Freddie was the son of Frank. Kenneth Wilson was listed as a director of Wilsons in the 1950’s Kellys directories as was their  father Alfred E. Wilson.

Roy.

One of the competitors used this Ferguson TE-D20.  I think the grey item cable tied to the front is to attach a marker to line up on the first run. Getting the first run as straight as possible is one key parts to a good plough score all the other furrows are based on that first one. The Number plate of this tractor is very close to mine an age related plate I believe.

Here is the plough at the back of that tractor. A Ferguson 2 Furrow with front furrow adjuster. The most interesting thing about the picture I think is the inserted item. It looks like some sort of attachment to hold the implement up without engaging the hydraulics whilst moving between jobs. I don’t think it was a Ferguson item but I did see one of these for sale on eBay recently.

Another Ferguson 2 furrow plough. This one I’m not sure would be allowed into the Ferguson class as it has a couple of banned items fitted. 1. the adjustable top link. 2. A stabalizer bar fitted to the left lower link arm.

Checkout the rules of the Ferguson class (now officially recognised my the society of ploughmen) here if you do want to enter a Ferguson class and there is one available at your next plough match.

Ferguson Tractor & Ferguson Plough rules

This looks like an FE35 with a Ransome plough, probably entered into the Vintage Hydraulic class.

And finally the “get the job done” solution, this modern alternative to vintage ploughing. It just doesn’t look the same as a nice Ferguson and 2 furrow plough.

Tags: 2 Furrow plough, Norton, Plough, Plough Match.

Ferguson 2 Furrow Plough
For over a year now my Ferguson 2F plough has been in the north east at Beamish Museum. This weekend I’ve liberated it.  With the Autumn ploughing under way in many areas and my tractors engine back together I am ready to practice my ploughing skills. The intension is to set the plough up using this excellent Ford Ferguson Manual.

Setup and servicing a Moldboard plough

Then as I don’t own any land I was hoping a local farmers would have some small fields they needed ploughing and let me plough them. This would allow me to practice and get them a free ploughed field.

I can catch up on the Ploughing competition rules here. The ferguson tractor with ferguson plough has it’s own set of rules

I don’t own a car with a towbar so transporting the plough was as much hassle as getting it there in the first place. I have to break it down into small enough pieces to carry it in the back of my estate car then re assemble it at the other end, not Ideal I know. I’ll keep you posted on my progress, after all this site is called plough my field and there hasn’t been much of they going on!

Ferguson Jack
Saturday 22nd August 2009 saw a Cheffins auction sale at the Harrogate showground. A friend went and I am now the owner of a working Ferguson Jack. The plate is missing from the back section, but is in place although unreadable on the front section. There where two types of jack produced for the TE-20 before a 3rd type for the FE35 was produced. The difference between the two types was the introduction of the TE-F20. Because the diesel model had battery boxes fitted to the trumpet housings of the rear axles the original design interfered with the battery holders so a re-designed version working off the connection point for the lower ling arms instead. This later modification ment the jack could be used my all types of TE20 tractor. I do own a ferguson jack already but as the front and back have been welded together and  number of holes drilled in the frames so that the former owner could turn them into a go kart it was going to require a lot of effort to turn it back into a working example.

I found it a great pain using a car jack to change the back wheels of the tractor when I recently had to swap the centres so that the originals could be shot blaster. Whe the originals to go back on and the current wheels needing to be painted I will be swapping wheels a lot in the coming weeks. The jack should make life a little easier and with the lack of space to collect implements then collecting accessories seems to fit better with my situation.

I presume an instruction manual was produced although I have never seen one. I will also try to track down at least a photocopy. Do you have a copy you can let me have please get in touch. As well as the original instructions on the jacks use I would also like to put together a short video demonstration its use.

Here you can see Colin’s Video of the Tractor Jack in action lifting all 4 wheels of the tractor clean off the ground.

Tags: 2 Furrow plough, Tractor Jack.