Killarney Valley Classic and Vintage Club has spent over 200 hours bringing a Ferguson TEF20, used for everything from farm work to driving lessons, back to its former glory.

The 4-cylinder diesel engine tractor owned by club member John Michael Howard, was built in Coventry, England in 1953.

The major restoration project is the club’s entry in the AXA Vintage Series competition being run in association 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.

Vintage club

Founded in 2013, Killarney Valley Classic and Vintage Club aims to bring together those with a love of all things classic and vintage, whether that be tractors, trucks, cars, motorbikes or bikes.

The club, with up to 160 members, including 9 women, is based in a small shed just off the Killarney Bypass provided by Kerry Mental Health Association for a small fee.

There are weekly meet-ups where various projects are progressed, along with events like tractor runs, car shows and information evenings.

“We’re a very active club. We’re always looking for new members.

“The main idea is there’s nobody under pressure to come or go and there’s nobody under pressure to take part in any project,” Tom Leslie, chair of Killarney Valley Classic and Vintage Club said.

He added that the “most important job” every time club members meet is a cup of tea and a biscuit.

Leslie said the club is always thinking ahead to their next project which helps keep members interested.

Despite coming from various backgrounds, members have a common passion – to conserve and preserve vehicles from days gone by.

“Human nature being as it is, as you get a bit older, you remember the times of the past when you were growing up as a child.

“You remember the noise of the tractor, the sound of a motorbike, the first motor car that you’ve got a spin in. These are times that you’ll never forget,” Leslie said.

Since 2015, the club has embarked on a range of different restoration projects with the finished vehicles then raffled for charity. To date, more than half a million euro has been raised for worthy causes.

“They all learn off each other. They’re all part of it and they’re all learning, which is the key thing really.

“We’ve lots of projects done over the years and there’s a great sense of pride and satisfaction in it. That’s what keeps the club going,” Leslie said.

Ferguson tractor

When the AXA Vintage Series competition was launched at last year’s National Ploughing Championships, John Howard thought the club’s next project may just be parked on his farm in Currow, around 16km from Killarney.

“My father bought the tractor sometime in the mid-1960s and it has been on the farm ever since.

“The tractor has done all sorts of work. It cut hay, it ploughed, harrowed, reaped corn and sat corn. It went to fairs and markets,” he said.

Killarney Valley Classic and Vintage Club - Ferguson TEF 20 before the restoration project — Ferguson TEF 20 before the restoration project. Source: John Michael Howard

As tractors were scarce at the time, the arrival of the Ferguson on the farm drew great attention in the local area.

“There was great excitement and neighbours coming to see it. At that time, any neighbour that would buy a tractor it would be talked of,” Howard recalled.

The Howards’ tractor was regularly borrowed by neighbours who may have needed it for a job, such as saving turf.

Howard described the tractor as “very, very special” due to its close connection to three generations of his family.

“All my family learned to drive on it, two girls and one boy, they all learned to drive. They were driving it at a very young age.

“One of my daughters said the clutch in it at that time wasn’t that great. She said ‘I could take off with a car on any hill without using a handbrake. I got so used to operating it’,” he said.

Howard has spent his life involved with tractors and repairing them.

“That tractor, once it was bought, it never went to a garage. This is the most pampering it has ever had.

“Anything that was doing to it up to now, I’ve done it myself,” he added.

According to Howard, being a member of Killarney Valley Classic and Vintage Club is an important part of his life.

“We meet here once or twice a week and we do a bit of work and we drink plenty of tea and have the craic and the banter.

“There is a great sense of pride. I must thank all the people in the club that helped so much with it,” he added.

Vintage restoration

While the tractor, which remains substantially original, was running prior to the project, Howard said it was “fairly in need of being repaired”.

The aim of the project by the club is to retain as much originality and historical character as possible.

Existing components are being repaired and conserved rather than replaced where practical.

Thomas Wharton, a club member from Fossa, Killarney, said some of the “big jobs” on the tractor included working on the clutch, the hydraulic lift, brakes and seals.

He said that sourcing parts for the Ferguson was not too difficult as they are “good enough to get at the moment”.

Cormac O’Sullivan and Humphrey Kerins were involved in spraying the tractor to return it to its original stoney-grey colour

“They did a good job on it, they used two pack paint on it which brought up a shine. The two pack would bring up a shine much more than the flat paint,” Wharton said.

Despite the many days and late nights spent working on the tractor, the work is not done yet, as noted by club member Timothy O’Sullivan from Listry.

“There’s another, at least four or five hours work to finish the process to give it the final finish,” he said.

While he is “supposed to be retired”, O’Sullivan said he is “still at the helm” of his own garage.

“For this job here I had to commission the fuel system and all the fuel lines, do the electrics and bring it back to original operating conditions,” he explained.

“The most important thing is have it as original as possible and for all these things you need to have a feeling for a soul. Even a wheelbarrow has a soul, it has only one wheel.

“To my ability anyway, I have brought it back to as original as possible, near enough to the manufacturer specifications.”

He explained that there were “a few little odds and sods for the fuel systems” that could not be bought from suppliers.

“I had to manufacture them myself – when you’re out in the desert, you will have to survive,” O’Sullivan said.

“Small little jobs if you had everything that you wanted, they take a small time, but when you have to manufacture and make things comply, it takes much more time.

“I’m a tool maker by trade. I have to copy what is there.

“I must finish off the electrics and make sure everything is going according to the book. The moral is to keep it as near as possible to the manufacturer’s specification,” he added.

Restoration

The club managed to source the Goodyear tyre which came out originally when the Ferguson grey tractors were first manufactured.

“The unique feature on the Goodyear tyres, they had a diamond on the side of them. So we have that and we’re delighted to have them because it really sets off the tractor. Again, as original as we possibly can,” Tom Leslie said.

Members carefully worked to restore the tractor’s original pick-up hitch, tipping pipe and the revoluntary three-point linkage invented by Harry Ferguson.

Leslie said: “The tractors prior to this, before this three-point linkage system, were highly dangerous because they would tow and what happened was if they got stuck in a root or a stone or a rock it would actually flip the tractor backwards.

“Whereas Harry Ferguson had a design that it would trip or it would release itself and it wouldn’t allow the tractor to flip backwards.

“It was huge thinking, we’ve geniuses all over the world but this genius happened to be from the north of Ireland. He was just way ahead of his time.”

John Michael Howard on his Ferguson TEF 20

Members of the club are keenly aware of the sentimental value of this tractor and its importance for the Howard family and the local area.

“You could say it’s the foundation of many stories,” O’Sullivan said.

When he took the tractor out for a test drive, Howard said it “felt very good”. His children are also now looking forward to getting back behind the wheel.

“They have a lot of happy memories about the tractor and farming and doing all sorts of work around the farm,” he added.

While Howard will retain ownership of the tractor after the competition, it will be used as a showpiece for the club at many upcoming events.

According to Tom Leslie: “There’s a lot of other people involved here as well. John would have a huge benefit to all this because it’s his tractor, but it’s the volunteers that come in and do the little bit. That’s the key to this.

“You’re part of something then. When you go home, you say ‘I did my little bit for that’.”

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

Vintage club

Ferguson tractor

Vintage restoration

Restoration

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