By CINDY LADAGE
Wrenching Tales
The most interesting aspect of this story at the Badger Steam & Gas Engine Club show in Wisconsin is how a couple of collectors hunt-and-peck, and find tractors for one another. Peter Smith and Julie Brown from Wilmslow, England, look high and low for Ferguson tractors for David Lory, and this Platteville, Wis., collector does the same for them.
David said, "I have been restoring tractors for years. Now I just restore my own, at most one a year. I grew up with Allis-Chalmers on the farm and we wanted a small chore tractor and we got an Allis-Chalmers B – and it flipped."
This had him searching for a tractor with a more stable base. "That’s how we got involved," he said, "then we got into English Ferguson clubs through John Moffitt."
One of the tractors Peter and Julie helped him find is a 1953 Ferguson TEF-20 diesel with a Reekie Co. conversion. "The conversion came from Scotland," Julie explained. "They converted narrow front tractors for growing strawberries and raspberries."
"The Reekie is very rare," David said. "Ferguson created his own version of a vineyard, but not in diesel, so Reekie converted a diesel tractor to a vineyard."
The second tractor they found for David was the 1957 FE-35 Industrial version. It had been used by a municipality to cut grass and pull trailers during its working life. What made the industrial FE-35 a bit different, Peter said, is it was highway-ready with a dual braking system, mudguards, tires, wheels and lighting from the standard tractors for agricultural use. The tractor was built in Coventry, England, and featured a 35-hp engine.
Julie and Peter located the tractors, then shipped them to the United States. "David likes the rare English tractors. He likes the oddballs, and so do we," Julie said. "We have been locating tractors for David since 2007, strictly Ferguson."
It is easy to see, looking at David’s beautiful tractors, that they have been restored by an artist.
Readers with questions or comments for Cindy Ladage may write to her in care of this publication.
