The GMB guide to the Grey Fergie tractor (Ferguson TE20 TEA20 TED20 TEF20 etc.) Version 2

A few years ago we took the opportunity to buy some agricultural land. We did not know much about farming or land management so had to find out for ourselves. It quickly became apparent that "scale" is an issue, so a tractor was going to be required for such things as managing large areas of grass and weeds, cultivating on a small-holding scale and lifting heavy things. I thought I would share some of our experience of owning a vintage tractor for use rather than show. Like many subjects, a lot of things about agriculture are "easy when known", but not so easy to find out in the first place because everyone knows it already. Because modern tractors are expensive, and because the first time you start on something new you often get it wrong, we decided to buy a cheap tractor first to find out about tractors, so next time we would know what to buy.

We decided to start with a Ferguson TEA20 for these reasons:

• Although very old they are also very numerous, and consequently very cheap.
• They are old technology and so are easy to fix, with most things easily accessible.
• Because there are so many still working (maybe a growing number indeed) there is a lot of support for it, so curiously there is little problem getting consumables and common parts (new) and the parts are often quite cheap too.
• The Ferguson 20 series were the start of the modern tractor system so a TEA20 rear linkage (almost) defined the modern "Category 1" system. I say "almost" because the PTO shaft is smaller than the modern CAT1 standard requires, but this is easily fixed in a number of fairly cheap and easy ways.
• They are so old that they pre-date leaded petrol so petrol models are totally happy with modern fuel.
• They only weigh about 1.5 tonnes so are within the weight limits for which many small vehicle transporters are certified.

Of course, being the first modern tractor there were bound to be some issues with it and there are several. Many are a result of the fact that the clutch isolates the engine from everything else.

• It does not have "live drive". So what is this? Well it means that when the tractor stops then so does the PTO shaft drive. Does it matter? I would say not so much. So long as you have an overrun clutch you can spin up the attachment in neutral and then very quickly engage a gear and drive off.
• It does not have "live hydraulics", by which I mean that the hydraulic pump is solidly joined to the PTO shaft drive. This is much more of a nuisance because it creates awkward and even dangerous situations. So to lift your attachment you have to be powering it too. If you absolutely do not want that then there is no alternative but to get off and disconnect the PTO shaft.
• There is no built-in PTO overrun clutch. This is a safety issue as it means that you cannot stop the rotational inertia of an implement from pushing the tractor along when you wanted to stop. The solution is to either only use implements with built-in clutches or you can get one combined with the shaft size converter - so this issue can be fixed easily. But with the converter solution the PTO shaft is shortened and this can cause the problem of the PTO shaft contacting the body of the implement when lifting up. Although this wasn't a huge problem we eventually decided to replace the whole PTO shaft with one having the modern CAT1 size. This is an example of a fairly major part that can be bought brand new.
• There are no low-ratio gears (usually). The 20 series has a basic one-stick gearbox giving 3 forward "field" speeds, one forward speed for driving on the road and reverse (ratio is between 1st and 2nd).
  This may not matter, but if it does I am aware of two solutions:
  1. When Howards made a rotavator for the 20 series it needed to be drawn much more slowly than 1st gear, so they also made an add-on low-ratio drive which is patched onto the end of the gearbox. These simple little reduction boxes are fairly rare so have become a collectors item and therefore expensive (maybe half the cost of the tractor itself). They also have a design fault whereby they sometimes do not hold properly in mesh resulting in gear damage over time. So getting a good one is a problem too. These devices install in a place where nothing was intended to go so they require a lot of engineering skill to fit them correctly, e.g. drilling holes in the gearbox end wall in precise locations.
  2. Ferguson produced an add-on gearbox unit that both adds a low ratio range and also implements live-drive when in low ratio. These gearboxes are even more rare than the Howard box and consequently are super expensive (about the cost of the tractor). They are also quite complex as they include an auxiliary oil pump for the hydraulically activated gear-band system (rather like an automatic car gearbox). It means that on the rare occasions that you see one of these advertised it is not easy to know if they are in working condition. These boxes insert in-between the main gearbox and the rear of the tractor so make the tractor several inches longer, which requires modification to the brake levers for example, and a lot more if you have a loader or certain implements.
• The rear linkage hydraulics only do "draft control". So what is this? Well the "Ferguson System" was the great innovation on this series of tractors. The hydraulic control of the rear arms is all about managing a plough. This is fine for ploughing but for most other implements it is not so helpful. Later tractors also have "position control" which is where you can set the height for your implement and the system will then stabilise the implement at the set height. For working with toppers and mowers the lack of position control is a problem, but there are a number of solutions including the GMB position control.
• These tractors are death traps!! They are seriously dangerous and have many ways of killing you. Most of these involve you being thrown out of the seat, and for this there is a solution which is widely misunderstood. The solution that you will often see mentioned is to fit a roll-over bar and this is even a legal requirement in some circumstances. The roll-bar stops you getting crushed to death when the tractor rolls over (something that it can do with lightning speed even when expertly driven). Except that it doesn't, unless you stay inside it and there is only one way to ensure that and that is to fit a seat belt and always use it. We are not taking about crash seat belts like in a car. It just has to be enough to hold your weight to keep you in the seat. I found that a go-kart lap seat belt is ideal for this and a standard Ferguson seat does not even need holes drilled in it to fit these. The seat belt will also stop you being bounced out of the seat to go either under a wheel or into the implement.
• The parking brake mechanism is rubbish. The snag with the standard arrangement is that the foot brake is held down by a tiny pawl that you have to poke into place. You only have to sneeze near the brake pedal for this to unlatch - and the safety implications are obvious. Again there are solutions to this that you can buy.
• Differential braking is awkward. At first sight it looks fine, there is a pedal on the right to brake the right wheel and one on the left to brake the left wheel. The snag is that your left foot is seriously committed to working the clutch and you really do not want to mess about to press the left brake. I do not find this a huge issue as I do not often feel the need for differential braking as the turning circle is quite good.
• There is no differential lock. So you may find yourself with one wheel spinning and then you really need more convenient differential braking (see above).
• There tractors are old. This means that most likely it has been through a few major refurbishments in its time so you might encounter some issues created by a previous owner. You also have to be prepared to face really major repair works if you get unlucky. But strangely this is not so likely. These tractors are unbelievably robust and with their engines operating at a de-rated power level compared to their use in cars, they just keep on going.

One quick point that is "easy when known". Although a tractor like this has a clutch and manual gearbox, you do not drive it like a car! There is no synchromesh and you do not need it, because you set off in the gear you need and do not change gear while moving. Surprisingly it is harder to set off in first gear than forth. It takes more skill to avoid a nasty lurch when setting off in first gear. The stick on the wheel is not a throttle control like on a car, but an engine speed control. The throttle is worked for you by the governor and so helps prevent the engine from stalling.
Be aware that when the gearbox gets old you must be careful to never pull the gear-stick upwards while changing gear. If you do the gear-stick can disengage from the gear selectors and then you are stuck in the last gear, the fix usually being to remove the two bolts that hold the stick in place and manually reset the gearbox into neutral.

A few other things to note if you do want to buy a 20 series tractor:

• If you want a diesel (TEF20) then avoid the 4-cylinder engine. The Perkins 3-cylinder engine is much better I am told, the other is usually a pain to start unless it has been upgraded to have electric injector heaters.
• The pure petrol TEA20 is better than the petrol/TVO version (TED20) in that it is more powerful and you don't have to organise the TVO fuel for it.
• The early petrol models have smaller engines than the later ones.
• If the model is TEA (petrol) but has the TVO heat-box and twin fuel tanks then it has been converted, a not uncommon upgrade in its day as TVO was an untaxed fuel.
• Bear in mind that the tyres are some of the more expensive parts!

Some notes on front loaders. As far as I am aware there are 3 different front loaders that were made to fit the 20 series tractors.

• The MIL loader. (MIL = Midland Industries Limited). This is the most common and is a good compromise on convenience and performance I would say. We have this and I have measured its lift as at least 360kg (yes, not as much as a modern tractor). The bucket just has a release catch and you reset it by dropping it to the ground.
• The so-called "teaspoon" loader. This is rather small and weak.
• The so-called "banana" loader (because of its shape). This is the high-lift loader and I guess it is more powerful than the MIL and has a ram for the bucket too.

They vary in convenience and lifting capability. But they are all nothing like a modern loader and are much harder to use I am sure. The main issue is that they have single action rams so they only power upwards, the downwards action is under gravity.
The other big issue is that they tap into the hydraulic power of the rear linkage and this is where things get difficult. There doesn't seem to be a way to isolate the hydraulic power to the rear so the rear linkage is operating at the same time as the loader rams - except this doesn't quite work because of the safety vent that operates as the rear arms reach maximum height. So to operate a loader (or anything using the hydraulic feed) the rear arms have to be locked in place using the "T bar", which kind of doubles as a towing attachment. You just use the hydraulic control lever to either obtain pressure or vent it. This is where the lack of live hydraulics really bites because when you hit the clutch you loose the pump. So scooping up a bucket full of stuff is quite involved for the driver. You have to drive into the pile, then engage neutral while you run the pump to lift the bucket. So hard work, but think of how little it cost!

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