GREY FERIGIE

[cobbadog]

Hi Guys,
We have been and still are looking at buying a little grey fergie as a project for Dee to do. Something that I have been noticing with looking at all sorts of tractors from parts tractors to some that have been tickled up and some even have been painted and that is the colour.
There appears to be a few different shades of Grey being used with people all saying that it has been painted in the ORIGINAL colour. Well I can tell the difference from a pale grey through to an almost charcoal grey surely they all can't be right. So what is the right shade of grey for one.
Please no references to 50 shades of grey !

[cobbadog]

Spelling mistake in Topic Heading, sorry

[wee-allis]

Hi John,

All references to paint colour I have seen refer to "Stoneliegh" Grey for all UK models up to about 1983.  The Italian models and those from the UK after that date were painted Ferguson or Charcoal Grey.  A lot of early tractors were traded and repainted in the later colours to make them more saleable, hence all the red and grey TEAs and FE35s out there.

In saying that, just last weekend, I was speaking with a guy who was most adamant that he had spoken with a past UK Ferguson employee, who insisted that they were painted "any colour we had at the time". So go figure.

I know it is said that if you find a part from under somewhere on the machine, the colour should be correct. Not always true. When I stripped my Allis B back to bare metal, the last colour I found was iridescent purple. I don't believe for one minute it left the factory dressed like that.
Cheers, Steve.

[cobbadog]

Thanks for the information Steve. The Grey Fergie we picked up yesterday is a TED20 of 1950 Vintage. Originally it was a 6 volt system now runs 12v with an alternator. Has a few issues but only one that concerns me but I am thinking that it is the seals around the liners as water has got into the sump but no air bubbles in radiator. When I have the David Brown back together the fergie is next on the list.

[cobbadog]

How do I work out the age of this one. I know by the water pump on the block that it is an early model 6volt one. I can read most but not all of the id plate on the steering coloumn support. It shows that it is a TED but not sure of the next number. The unknown number can make it either 1955 or 1953. Is this number stamped else where on the tractor. The engine number is very clear and starts with the letter 'S'.The air cleaner has a top on it with small louvres stamped in it and does not use a hose to connect to the vent on the dash board.
Engine shows air bubbles in the radiator with water in the oil so looking at cleaning the watery oil out and removing the head to start with.
What is the best way to wash the old watery il out? I was thinking of dumping the old stuff from the sump and oil filte and putting either kero or diesel in and running it briefly, YES or NO?

[wee-allis]

Hi John,

On most but not all early Te series tractors, if you look on the right side of the rear transmission housing, just behind flange where the gearbox joins, you will find the date of manufacture cast in, vertically. It will consist of a number for the day then the month and the year is shown just as a single number. Typically similar to this "22 10 3" which would translate to 22nd October, 1953.  On a lot , but then again, not all engines have the date cast into the block just above and behind the generator, in a similar fashion. 

The air cleaner would indicate an early model. Was it originally six volt? The way to tell the difference is the casting in the bell housing to cover the starter drive is short on the 6 volts system and longer on the 12 volt as it pulls the Bendix drive in from the rear of the flywheel.

Hope this doesn't confuse the issue for you.
Cheers, Steve.

[cobbadog]

Ok, found the numbers that you mentioned and the numbers on the engine block read 21 12 0, so I make that the engine is 21/12/ 1950. The numbers on the diff housing just in front of the lever for the pto and behind the flange where the diff and gearbox join reads, 20 12 0 but then there is a '2' underneath those numbers so I make it as being one day older than the engine.
Yes the tractor was originally a 6 volt system and although it now runs a 12v alternator it still has the 6v starter motor in place that has a date stamp of 1951 on it.
The water pump is attached to the block and not the head and this also points to it being an early model. The number on the I/D plate then must read TED 74895 and not the possible TED 474895.

[cobbadog]

Forgot to ask about where it is that has all the info on these tractors and is there any difference in the dating systems between the TEA and TED models?

[voljon]

john, the serial number list I have for number 74895 would put it at 1948. could it be number 174895 which would make it 1951,regards,john

[cobbadog]

Hi John,
It is very hard to see if there is a number in front of the 74895. It is why I have asked if the number is stamped anywhere else to try and confirm what the number is.
The place I have gone to get the date of manufacture is for TE & TEA20 models. I can't seem to find one for TED20  or are they the same?
The guys who have just finished the David Brown engine for me said that the water problem in this Fergie just might be an aluminium plug in the top of the head and that can be fixed quite easily.

[dave351cid]

does it have another number stamped into the steering box housing or possibly the ID plate ?
I have been told that these numbers are the order that the tractors were unloaded off the ships in Sydney and Melbourne.
 
 mine is stamped down the rhs of the ID plate in large numbers. " T003"
it was a demonstrator tractor as part of the Ferguson Circus and would have been one of the first landed in this country.

[cobbadog]

This is my big problem with this tractor. The id plate is not stamped clearly and may or may not have another number being a '4'. I will do my best when I can to take a pic of the plate and post it.

[cobbadog]

It looks as if the numbers are 174895 which means 1951 model. This matches up with the casting numbers for December 1950.