John Joe Murphy, Johnny Murphy, and John Kavanagh are among the members of Clohamon Vintage Club, who are reviving the tractor as part of the AXA Vintage Series competition run in conjunction with Agriland.

The competition is being held to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the start of production of the 'Little Grey Fergie' tractor in 1946.

Unlike many of the other project tractors, this 'Little Grey Fergie' was still in running condition when the vintage club members decided to enter it into the competition.

John Joe Murphy, who is heading up the project, said: "We drove it in there to where it's parked at the minute, got jacked up and took the wheels and all off it.

"This tractor had very little wrong with it, to be fair; it probably wasn't doing big work. It never gave us a bit of hardship around here from the time it landed.

"Anytime you wanted to move it around the shed, I think it was only a matter of starting her up and moving it, so we were lucky that way, I suppose," Murphy admitted.

The tractor's story

The tractor was provided by vintage club member Thomas Kavanagh last September.

According to John Joe Murphy, the tractor "was on an estate in Cambridge from brand-new".

"There was a bit of a sale there. The lad that owns the tractor now, Tom Kavanagh, he bought it there, and brought it back here, and he agreed to let us enter it into the competition," Murphy explained.

Cambridgeshire has been a major arable farming region for centuries, and was heavily relied upon to fuel British troops in the Second World War.

After the conclusion of the war, TE 20s were used to replace horses en masse.

Between 1946 and 1956, over half a million Ferguson tractors were constructed in the UK, with many of them going to tillage farms in Cambridgeshire.

Cambridgeshire's vast expanse of flat farmland adopted them without hesitation, and the light, affordable and capable machines were well received.

After his purchase last September, Tom Kavanagh brought the tractor back to his native Co. Wexford, unintentionally just in time to enter this competition.

Kavanagh still lives in the UK, which is why he was unable to restore the vehicle as he had hoped to; fortunately, this handed the opportunity to members of his local vintage club.

According to Murphy, the club has lofty ambitions for the Ferguson renewal: "We'd love to get first prize in the competition anyway, for a start.

"Then, I think they're doing a vintage tractor thing down in Ballyfad for a world record.

"We're hoping to get her down there, and from that to a few vintage shows around, down in Wexford and Carlow to try and support everyone."

Restoration process

When asked about his role in the restoration of the tractor, John Joe Murphy said: "I did most things there.

"Not on my own or anything, but I was ordering up parts, stripping parts and putting them back on.

"Another member of the club there did the painting, he's a carpenter by trade.

"He was able to do all the painting for us. He organised the paint, he knew what he was talking about. We gave him the RAL number and he got that sorted out himself."

Clohamon members were happy that there were only "a few small bits, wear and tear" to restore under the bonnet.

According to John Joe Murphy: "We checked everything, we checked the injector pumps and all that craic."

Despite spearheading the restoration, Murphy stressed that he "wasn't mechanically minded" but that he learned as he went in the evenings he worked on it.

"I'd understand a few small yokes I suppose alright, but I never really had much interest in it," he said.

Like many other clubs, Clohamon Vintage Club felt the number of hours they had dedicated to the TE20 was "incalculable".

"We're at it there on and off since the end of February," Murphy continued.

Despite the hours that Murphy poured in, he was determined to drive home the point that it was a community project.

He said: "We have a good few lads in the club there that's into this stuff, you know, they're into the mechanics, so we were lucky that way that we had a few lads that knew what they were talking about."

Murphy added that the club had "lots of lads" available to work on the restoration.

"We had a good friend of the club there, he offered to sandblast it for us, which made an awful difference. And then we had [the] man that painted it there for us as well.

"We were lucky that way that we had lads to do that, you know, that didn't cost us money," he said.

Clohamon focus

Clohamon Vintage and Heritage Club is a relatively recently established vintage club, having only formed four years ago.

Despite the club's youth, they have more than 35 members and were selected to host the 2026 All Ireland National Vintage Rally, a huge feat that the club is very proud of.

According to John-Joe Murphy, the club wants to ensure the day of the All-Ireland runs smoothly.

"We could do with buying another few bits, I suppose a few gazebos and maybe upgrading our marquee," he said.

Murphy mentioned that the community spirit within the club is what drove the Ferguson 20 restoration and what will be needed to run the All Ireland National Vintage Rally.

"No matter what, send in a message into the WhatsApp group and they'll [the vintage club members] arrive.

"We're very lucky in the club that way, to have that, that backing."

With regard to the AXA Vintage Series competition, Murphy wished all the vintage clubs taking part well.

"The very best of luck to them, but I hope they're not any better than us, you know?" he laughed.

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