Pat the Chap Vintage Club member Gavin Tomkins has led a small team in their restoration of the tractor, which they have undertaken as part as part of the AXA Vintage Series competition, in association with Agriland.

Tomkins said: "We probably started this in February I'd say, and we're still looking for parts.

When asked if he had a supplier for the parts he was missing, he replied: "We haven't found them yet now but we're getting close".

Ferguson restoration

While Tomkins is the figurehead of the project, he mentioned that there are "a few different fellas in it with me".

"There was the guy who helped me with the engine, and another club member who did a lot of the pushing in bushings and seals.

"Stripping and rebuilding the tractor was mostly myself, that was my work.

"Another lad, a friend of the club, is doing the paintwork on it," he said.

When asked how many hours he had invested in the project, he chuckled before replying: "Too many to count, probably around 250 hours put into this I'd say.

However, he felt he could finish the project if he was able to put "eight or 10 days behind it".

"She has to be finished in three weeks and I'd say it'll take the three weeks," he added.

"There's a little Ki-gas system that goes around the dash - I'm still missing the dash and that. I'm having trouble finding them parts," he said.

He admitted that he may have to source some of the materials new, but stressed that he'd rather "find second-hand stuff and put it into it".

The part of the restoration that Tomkins is most nervous about is when the engine is reconstructed and "she gets started up for the first time.

"If everything goes right there we're alright, but if everything doesn't go right, we don't have the time to be messing with it," he explained.

The challenges

According to Tomkins, the tractor had proved more complex than he had initially expected.

"It's only a small tractor, you'd underestimate the job," he said.

He credited the challenge of the machine to the amount of manpower at his disposal and how difficult he found it to get parts.

Due to the size of the team from Pat the Chap Vintage Club working on it, Tomkins ended up having more work to do than he thought he would.

Due to the tractor ceasing production in 1956, the newest original parts are at least 70-years-old.

Oftentimes parts sourced from other Ferguson 20 models can be equally as worn out as the part a club may be trying to replace.

In addition to this, the Ferguson 20 was also produced with multiple different engines, with only some of them being easily interchanged.

These include the TE20, which used the US-made Continental Z120 petrol engine, while the TEA20 used a similar engine that was built by the Standard Motor Company in Coventry, England.

Alternatively, there was the option of the TED20, which was designed to run on Tractor Vapourising Oil (TVO), a cheaper, lower-grade fuel.

This engine required starting on petrol before swapping over to TVO once the engine was warm, thus the model used a dual-compartment fuel tank.

Lastly was the TEF20, a diesel engine introduced in the early 1950s.

These engines also had different mounts and components due to different manufacturers and fuel sources.

For example, the TEA20 and the TED20 were seen as the most interchangeable due to them using a similar engine made by the Standard Motor Company.

Swapping between the diesel line or the Continental engines and the Standard engines is notably more tough due to the additional work required to facilitate the swap.

According to Tomkins: "Nothing ever goes right and it doesn't go the way you want."

While he has struggled to find original parts to restore different components for his Ferguson 20, he remains adamant that he will persevere in his efforts.

"Half the fun is finding the old bits and travelling the country looking for parts, meeting fellas, ringing lads and talking to lads all in search for one small piece," he said.

Future restoration hopes

Tomkins hopes that people look at his restoration efforts and actively take more of an interest in the vintage club as a result.

"The tractor will show that you can still do it. If you want to go out and take an interest in the older machines and restore them, you can still do it," he explained.

When discussing the topic of the prize money, the Wexford man said: "It's not about the prize money really, it's about finishing the tractor.

"What does a vintage club want? If we were to win, it might go into a Christmas party."

When the AXA Vintage Series competition was launched at last year's National Ploughing Championships, Tomkins admitted that he was hoping it would not be restricted to Ferguson 20s.

Despite that, he mentioned how much he had loved the process and work involved with doing up his 'Little Grey Fergie'.

"We've restored tractors here that it's not worth restoring, but what do you do? Do you leave them lying in a ditch?" Tomkins said while shaking his head, answering his own question.

Future plans

While he said he "definitely enjoyed" the restoration and will be hoping to do another one next year, he will probably concentrate on a different make though.

"Personally myself I'm more into Internationals, so one of them I'd hope," Tomkins said while gesturing around his shed, full of different International brand tractor projects that he was working on.

The Internationals were once part of the International Harvester brand, which is now a part of CNH.

According to Tomkins though, it's not the model or brand that is important with restorations, but the history of the individual tractor that makes for a fun assignment.

"It's definitely not financially worth it restoring some of these, but you can't think about that. You can't think about the time it takes, the money that goes into it," he said.

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