Seventy years ago this month, as the Second World War was drawing to a close in Europe,
two new tractors were launched in Britain.
Despite both tractors being well received by a hungry industry feeding a hungry world, both tractors were stop-gap machines. One was actually available for more than six years and in many guises, while the other was only available for just over two years.
However, both went on to spawn two of Britain’s best tractors.
The two tractors in question were the Fordson E27N, which was first built on March 19, 1945; and the David Brown VAK 1A, with the first one assembled on March 6.
Both were subsequently offered on to the market without any real fanfare as the nation was still at war and tractors were distributed by allocation.
The two companies had been building tractors during the war, but at either end of the spectrum.
Ford was a massive American concern, although the British operation was quite autonomous. Its factory at Dagenham produced huge numbers of motor cars and commercial vehicles as well as large numbers of tractors.
Meanwhile David Brown had started as a very important gear manufacturer for the textile industry in its native West Yorkshire, but became involved with tractors by building Harry Ferguson’s Type A machine.
It went on to design its own machine and launched it in 1939.
The start of the Second World War would change all plans of each concern. Both were awarded large government contracts which would result in increased tractor production for Ford but decreased production for David Brown.
Fully aware of the need to mechanise British farming further to increase home food production, the government encouraged Ford to ramp up output of the tried and tested but dated Fordson N tractor.
Meanwhile David Brown had to scale down production of its new VAK 1 to produce aircraft-towing examples and other military equipment.
During the conflict Ford produced 140,000 tractors along with military vehicles such as the Bren Gun Carrier.
Dagenham was the target of the Luftwaffe and suffered bomb damage on several occasions.
Therefore by the war’s end the production facilities were pretty worn out and, although Ford had been working on a more modern tractor design, government restrictions discouraged spending on dollar products.
This meant no new tooling could be bought, while tractor production had to continue at high levels to secure food supplies. Production lines could therefore not be shut down to retool.
Such was the need to keep production at high levels the new model was built alongside the old Model N from March until June 1945
Therefore the badly outdated Model N was given an upgrade and makeover to produce the E27N. Design engineers had managed to coax more horsepower out of a power plant which dated back to 1917, and it was now rated at 27HP hence the model number.
The old worm-and-wheel drive of the Model N was replaced by the more modern crown wheel with spiral bevel pinion, said to be copied from Massey Harris 203 and International Farmall tractors. This system absorbed less power, leading to lower fuel consumption. It also allowed the tractor to have a higher stance, enabling it to be used in row-crop situations.
The tractor was given the name of the Fordson Major as it was larger than the model it was replacing and as a reference to the debt owed by the nation to the armed forces.
Initially it was very basic, with many still produced on steel wheels and without hydraulic lift. Designers had built in electric starting, and provision for a starter was made in the castings, but it would be 1946 before a starter ring was added to the flywheel.
Gradually improvements were added to areas such as the drawbar, electrics, wheel sizes, vaporiser and magneto. The last two indicate that the tractor was designed as a petrol paraffin machine. This fuel type was beginning to be seen as a poor relation to more modern diesel engines, so the E27N turned another chapter by the fitting of the famous Perkins P6 diesel power plant.
First it was offered as a retro fit by dealers, but such was the transformation of the tractor that Ford started to offer factory-fitted examples as a new tractor option.
A four-cylinder Perkins L4 diesel could also be fitted. The diesel versions made the tractor even more popular with many users, who in some cases preferred the larger size and weight of the machine for heavy draught work on strong land over the lighter but more modern Ferguson tractor which came in at roughly the same price.
During its production run it was marketed heavily, and Ford took it on tour around various parts of the UK where the different types of tractor could be demonstrated with its special range of implements developed by Ford and Ransomes.
One was held at Windyedge Farm near Perth in the late 1940s.
So this stop-gap machine soldiered on for more than six years before the tractor which Ford would have liked to offer earlier came into production in 1951/2. In all 233,112 Majors were built before the E1A New Major replaced it.
David Brown’s stop-gap was the VAK 1A, which replaced DB’s first tractor the VAK 1, which had been launched in a blaze of glory in 1939 and had reputedly seen 3,000 orders placed for it.
It was a very modern design due to David Brown canvassing farmers on what they were looking for. However, its potential was never really fulfilled because of the war.
Those that were produced and sent to work on farms provided the manufacturer with the information on how the original design could be improved. Even during the war DB designers had been working on plans for a new tractor, but delays meant it taking a great deal longer than anticipated. So an improved VAK 1 was the best way forward at the time.
When this new version, the VAK 1A, arrived it sported various improvements. These included the carburettor, the throttle control, manifold, air cleaner, final drives, integral power lift and extra gears.
More noticeable was the increase in the wheelbase by moving the axle forward, meaning the front wheel sat proud of the radiator grill. This cushioned the tractor in a collision meaning that the vulnerable grill was not damaged, unlike the cast-iron version on its predecessor.
This stop-gap was only in production for two years, with only 3,502 examples built at their factory at Meltham in Yorkshire. Once again though the tractor that replaced it was to go on to be one of best David Brown tractors ever built.
The David Brown Cropmaster was launched in April 1947 and was also offered with a diesel engine, making it so popular it even eclipsed Ferguson sales in the early days.
Both machines successfully plugged a gap which was later filled by their manufacturers releasing their ultimate machines.