The vintage club is restoring the tractor as part of the AXA Vintage Series Ferguson 20 restoration competition.

The competition is running to celebrate 80 years since the beginning of production of the Ferguson 20.

Based in the village of Ferbane, project head Adam Fletcher described this particular tractor restoration as a "junior project".

Fletcher, whose brother Glen is also a member of the club, said: "I decided that we needed something for the younger lads to start during the winter.

"One by one lads came in; we all did different parts, and there's even people who are involved with the club just [saw] us come in.

According to Fletcher: "It's mainly for just younger people to get involved in the club, and trying to just get our name out there, that the vintage is going to be still available in a few years, with younger members".

Ferguson tractors

For the Fletcher family, there is more of a personal connection than merely being acting in their local vintage club.

Adam Fletcher said: "Our family has a collection of them [vintage Ferguson tractors].

"We're always working on them but we never went to this extent as quick.

"Everything was step-by-step, we just [did] it in the yard and in the shed."

Mechanical refreshment

Rashina Vintage Club decided early on that everything the club members did was going to be completely original and entirely restored.

"From the very front to the very rear, something has been touched; so we started with the front axle, all new bearings, all new bushings; it's as tight as the way it's meant to come," Fletcher continued.

"The engine is where the work really started. The issue with this tractor originally was the oil and water was mixing.

"There was a dowel gone in the head, it was causing a leak. When we took off the head, we found out the pistons were worn, and the crankshaft was worn."

As a result, the club took apart the machine and it was fitted with all new pistons, new liners, and came back as a bare block.

"We built it all back up, and we set the timing, we did all the ignition timing, all in the yard here," Fletcher said.

The finishing touches to the tractor include the wiring and the bonnet, which is currently at a club member's house, where he is restoring it.

"90% of the work has been done inside the shed; we said if this is a project, there's no point sending off everything," Fletcher added.

The vintage club members believe it would cost €2,000 to have the tractor painted, so they saw it as an opportunity to teach themselves how to do it.

"The lads came in to help; all the sanding was done by hand, there was no sandblasting done as such," Fletcher explained.

"We did paint it in the shed as well, because we didn't want to give out big money to a lad to paint it. We said we'd learn from it."

Accurate in fine details

Adam and Glen Fletcher's father is a automotive electrician, so he aided the club members with the wiring.

During this process, the club used the original wire loom that had been on the Ferguson 20s and got the Fletchers' father to check it over for accuracy.

Adam Fletcher explained the finer details of the restoration process, such as with the wiring: "We wrapped them [wires] in the old fibre tape instead of the new style tape, because we didn't want shiny; it's the original we want.

"That's why it's not being painted black, because that's the original paint on it. We're trying to keep it the way it's meant to be," he said.

The club was determined to use period-correct parts and materials, and sourced a starter and dynamo made by John Lucas Ltd.

In addition, members of the club also found themselves travelling as far as the most northern points of Donegal to pick up parts, implements and attachments for the Ferguson 20.

Youth focus

The key figures behind the restoration of the tractor in Rashina Vintage Club were all aged under 30, a mighty feat when considering that the tractor ceased production 70 years ago.

Adam Fletcher highlighted the strength of the project in attracting younger members.

"We do see across all of Ireland that clubs are closing down, one by one, and there is no people coming back.

"It's a club project, this was meant to be purely lads coming to the shed and working, and trying to keep younger lads in the club," he said.

The youthful members of Rashina Vintage Club have been dedicating a lot of time to the project, estimating they have spent over 200 hours working to restore the tractor.

According to another one of the men who worked on the Ferguson 20, Daniel O'Neil, it could be tough to find the time for the project.

"It's hard to be in every day when you're working as well, so trying to donate a bit of extra time, and it's just to get involved with it really.

"You learn a lot from doing a neat project like this," O'Neil said.

Glen Fletcher weighed in on the restoration project, describing it as "something we did as a team".

"We all fought and made up and it's something we could say we did in 20 years' time, we [did] up that tractor as a team," Glen Fletcher remarked.

Another member of the club, Corey Keoghan stated that he wants the tractor to be "the way she was when she came out of the factory".

"Mentally we know we put our heart and soul into it and it's the best we could do with it," he added.

Rashina Vintage Club has been providing updates on the project on its Facebook page, including the first engine start and many other stages of the process.

According to Adam Fletcher, the page has gained over 500 followers from this project alone, which he hopes will encourage more people to get involved with the vintage club.

The prize for first place in the Ferguson 20 restoration competition is €5,000, a figure that Rashina Vintage Club says would cover the operating costs of its annual show and allow the members to invest more into it.

This series is brought to you by Agriland and sponsored by AXA Insurance.