After months of painstaking restoration work, late nights in the workshop and countless decisions over every last detail, the moment of truth had finally arrived.

With tractors gleaming, judges faced the difficult task of choosing an overall winner – but in the end, there could only be one champion.

That champion was Clonroche/Poulpeasty Vintage Club who claimed top honours in the Ferguson 20 restoration competition, organised by the Irish Vintage Society CLG and AXA.

Held in Clohamon, Co. Wexford, the judging event brought together vintage clubs from across Ireland to showcase beautifully restored Ferguson tractors.

The overall prize fund for the competition was €8,000, with a first prize of €5,000, second prize of €2,000 and third prize of €1,000.

AXA agri-regional development manager for Munster, Tom McCarthy, said: “The response to this year’s search for the most originally restored vintage Grey Ferguson 20 has been truly outstanding.

“The passion, craftsmanship and dedication shown by participants and vintage clubs across the region reflects the deep pride that exists in preserving our agricultural heritage for future generations.

“On behalf of AXA, I would like to congratulate every club that took part in this wonderful competition.

“A very special congratulations goes to Clonroche/Poulpeasty Vintage Club on being named overall winners.

“Their exceptional restoration is a fitting tribute to the enduring legacy of the iconic Grey Ferguson 20 and to the vibrant vintage community that continues to keep this history alive”.

The top winner was Clonroche/Poulpeasty Vintage Club and according to owner Marty Grennan and fellow club member Fergus O’Leary they “haven’t slept a wink” over the last couple of weeks.

Grennan said “The tractor’s grand, it’s grand that it paid off, all the hours paid off.

“We’re only a small club but it means an awful lot. He [Grennan’s father, who owned the tractor before Grennan] was there today, it was ideal.

“It was great to get the club together and all the boys working on it”.

Grennan said it was all hands on deck with the project.

“You don’t get an invitation to an open shed.

“I didn’t get an invitation when he [O’Leary] was at it, and I owned the yoke,” Grennan laughed.

Clonroche/Poulpeasty's Ferguson 20 in a wreck prior to restoration — Marty Grennan’s tractor prior to the restoration Source: Clonroche/Poulpeasty Vintage Club

According to O’Leary, the club chartered their progress on social media – happy to share “we’d nothing to hide” including the fact that it was a “mental [busy] shed the last couple of weeks”.

He was delighted that the Grennan father-and-son team were both on-site to see the tractor win.

“There’s three generations going around,” he added.

The vintage club members already have their eyes on their next project – restoring a David Brown next.

According to Grennan, the vintage club is interested in “any competition at all”.

But he did add that might be a task for a new pair of hands.

“Someone else can do it [the restoration], I’m done,” he told Agriland.

Members of Clonroche/Poulpeasty Vintage Club with it's restored Ferguson 20 — Clonroche/Poulpeasty Vintage Club took top prize at the vintage restoration competition. Source: Irish Vintage Society Clg.

“For a small club, there’s two All-Ireland winning tractors in it so far, so it won’t be long until we have more,” Grennan said.

Grennan and O’Leary had secured a “clever cab” to the tractor, which while not original, did win over favour from many that attended the rally.

Grennan has a long history of being involved with vintage machinery – he claims to have bought his first tractor around the time of his communion.

But despite the length of time he has been involved in vintage projects, there is is one aspect that he always refuses to compromise on – and that is tyres.

Grennan wanted Goodyear tyres on his tractor.

The winning tractor had its original hitch and stay arms in excellent condition and Marty had sought a safety warning chain attached to the lift arm lever.

This was to warn operators not to ruin their hydraulic pump by removing stay arms.

The tractor had left the dealership with a “clydebuilt” cab (which was made by a Scottish engineering company called “Innes Walker”) and was restored back onto the tractor.

Grennan said he is thrilled to be “honouring the past and preserving our heritage”.

Second place

Killarney Valley Classic and Vintage Club was awarded second place in the Ferguson 20 restoration competition organised by the Irish Vintage Society CLG and AXA.

Club chair Tom Leslie said it was easy to find a tractor to restore “when we knew we’d our member with us that had the tractor”.

John Howard, is the owner of the tractor, and his father had owned it before him.

“It was my father got it first, and we’ve it since the mid ’60s.

“It’s a Ferguson TEF 20 diesel, it was the first tractor that came to the farm, and when it came it did all sorts of work.

“It was in kind-of-poor repair because it had been used down through the years,” Howard said.

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

According to Howard, the tractor was running before the restoration. Leslie said that “the engine was quite good in it, but the bodywork needed a lot of attention.

“It all needed a good tidy-up, and then of course the final finish was key here to this competition.

“We’re delighted to be on the winning podium with second prize in this competition.

“This is going to go to our shows now locally in Kerry and Cork, and we’ll also have it at the National Ploughing display for the Irish Vintage stand because we’re very proud in the club [of the restoration],” Leslie said.

The club was lucky because Howard had a lot of parts stored to restore the tractor, and then they were able to source much of what they did not have at different vintage shows around the country.

Howard said the tractor “is of sentimental value to myself and my family”, adding that he is proud to see it back in “good condition”.

Members of Killarney Classic and Vintage Club standing around it's Ferguson 20 restoration — Members of Killarney Classic and Vintage Club came to support the ‘Little Grey Fergie’ that came in second place Source: Irish Vintage Society Clg.

According to Leslie, the club has already started its next restoration project.

“We’re currently doing a Ford seven-six that came in from France,” he revealed.

The tractor is nearly complete, and once done, it will be auctioned off and whatever surplus the club has from the auction will go to a local charity.

Third place

Midwest Donegal Vintage Club was awarded third place.

The club’s tractor restoration also aimed to raise awareness for men’s mental health.

Club secretary Daniel Moy said members would “head up the road happy” after securing third place.

“We’d quite a bit of work to do, unexpected work. We ended up having to rebuild the gearbox.

“We were very lucky with sponsors and donations from people, it kept the cost down as the restoration went on.

“We bought the tractor as a club to have it for the club, and now we’re planning to raffle the tractor off,” Moy said.

According to Moy, the club operated as a men’s shed, with a focus on also giving people an outlet to socialise.

He also said that the club would consider another restoration, but next time it would aim for something “simpler and less time consuming”.

Members of Midwest Donegal Vintage Club standing with it's restored Ferguson 20 in front of a scenic backdrop — Midwest Donegal Vintage Club used this tractor to promote men’s mental health. Source: Midwest Donegal Vintage Club

The club wants to to raise enough money to establish its own shed.

Moy said: “We’re very proud of the club, I put it up on our Whatsapp group after we got the word that we won third prize, and the floods of messages started coming in.

“We’re all very proud of what we’ve achieved.

“We could head for any town with this now, we could show it to anybody”.

Irish Vintage Society

The Irish Vintage Society president Eunan Kelly and chair Tom Pender said the competition was initially organised “to boost clubs around the country”.

“A huge amount of work goes into it, and a huge amount of expense as well,” Pender said.

The Irish Vintage Society's Tom Pender and Eunan Kelly stand in front of a vintage steam machine and talk about the Ferguson 20 restoration competition — Tom Pender and Eunan Kelly are the Irish Vintage Society Clg. chair and president respectively

He added: “It’s a great boost for clubs that completed restorations.

“They have a lot of options now, they could raffle it for charity or they could say they’ve the best restored Ferguson tractor in Ireland”.

Pender himself grew up with a ‘Little Grey Fergie’ in the late 60s and early 70s.

Kelly said that his interest in vintage tractors came from working on farms; however, he didn’t have a Ferguson when he was younger. Instead, he was more familiar with a Ford 3000.

According to Pender, at one stage “the grey Ferguson was a Rolls Royce of a tractor until about the mid-70s”.

“100 years down the road from the day they were first launched, they’re still working on a lot of farms” he added.

Second place

Third place

Irish Vintage Society

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