Faber McMullen's Trip to the English Massey Ferguson Factory

I've had this page on the 'net since summer of 1996. It gets little action, as there are apparently not many tractor admirers surfing... ( If you're reading this, you're a dedicated fan! Thanks for hangin' around.) In January I got a note from Faber, who'd seen the page and wrote me with some information on the history of this tractor. I wrote back, we discussed the care and feeding of web pages and Ferguson tractors and he had this great story to share. With Faber's permission, here's his story.

A few years ago, when I bought the farm ( " Pleasant Hill" ) I began looking for a good tractor. As I looked at available equipment, I was interested in the Massey-Ferguson as the name is very Ulster ( Northern Irish) and my family was originally from Tyrone.

Here's Faber with a TE20 at the Ulster Transportion Museum, Belfast, Ireland.

A couple of years ago, while on a business trip to England, I mentioned to a client that I was thinkng of purchasing a Massey-Ferguson tractor. He told me the factory was about 10 miles from where we were sitting!!!!

I immediately had my client's secretary call the plant and the head of purchasing, John Burge, agreed to meet me the next morning. Excitedly I showed up at about 10:00am and John was an absolute delight. The administration was closed, but he had taken time out of his Saturday to give me a personal plant tour. Somehow, he had the impression that I was looking to buy several dozen tractors!!! How he got that out of the secretary making a call for me I'll never know. Anyway, John is a walking Ferguson Tractor history book. He has worked there since Harry Ferguson was the owner and he's seen it all. He is the head of their Ferguson Heritage Club.

He started the tour in a large museum hall that houses every single model ever made by The Ferguson Tractor Company or the later Massey-Harris-Ferguson Tractor Company, or the Massey-Ferguson Company as it was and is finally known. It was fantastic! I saw the first black Ferguson Tractors. I saw the actual tractor sitting there (right) that Sir Edmund Hillary took to the South Pole ( exactly as it came back). I saw the full range of all the TE-20 series that were made ( these are the English Made equivalents of your tractor). Then he took me through the plant.

The factory was in full production the day I was there. I saw tractors going together at what seemed to be the rate of about one per 10 minutes. John was a prince of a guide and the plant convinced me to get home and purchase my first Massey-Ferguson Tractor. My dad and I bought a new MF 383 4WD w/838 (73 hp) front end loader the week I got home, and it has been a fantastic piece of equipment. My dad bought a new MF 240 4WD w/ frt end loader for himself for his place. That's why I'm looking for a MF 35X.( circa 1959 with a bored out 3 cylinder perkins diesel).

I want a good condition one to use around the farm for my smaller jobs ( pulling the hay wagon, etc.). Anyway, I didn't mean to ramble. If you've got any more questions about your Wee Grey Fergie please drop me an email and I'll give it a shot.

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