Joe Swalwell's 1949 Ferguson TO-20

This TO20 sat out on the Oklahoma weather virtually unused for the better part of twenty years, but started right up after new points were installed and clean gas was poured in. Its serial number is in the 5800's which makes it a '49. This particular tractor has much sentimental value for us both since it's been in the family for decades. It was during the refurbishing of this tractor that I discovered the unique history of and became a fan of all things Ferguson.

This particular tractor is a working tractor, so I routinely do brushhog jobs and blade work. Since I have to keep it running during the refurbishing process, the work I've done to it tends to be the sort that can be accomplished in an afternoon and evening. So far I've rebuilt the radiator (the world's ugliest soldering job!), replaced the manifold, converted it from 6 to 12 volt, rebuilt the starter, rebuilt the carburetor, replaced the rear-axle oil seals, overhauled the brakes, replaced the outer PTO shaft oil seal and installed a water temperature gauge where the broken ammeter had been. This winter I intend to do a tractor split and replace the engine's rear oil seal and, possibly, the clutch. As you can tell from the photos, it also needs paint, which I suppose I will have to do piecemeal as time permits.

Since I'm a bit of a writer, a natural offshoot of my Ferguson interests is that eventually I would like to write a little book with the refurbishing of the TO20 as a narrative vehicle for the discussion of techniques, projects and general thoughts on the whole process. Kind of a scaled down "Zen and the Art of Ferguson Maintenance" sort of thing. This book would probably generate an enormous market of, oh, seven or eight people in the world but I think it would still be worth it. Feel free to email me if you have questions, especially one pertaining to any of the work I've already done to my tractor. I can assure you that I wish the Ferguson Brothers had come into existence before I embarked on much of the work that I've done. I could have saved myself quite a bit of time and effort, so simply out of sympathy I'm always glad to help others.