Minding men’s mental health is a big part of a major restoration project being undertaken in Co. Donegal as part of the AXA Vintage Series competition, in association with Agriland.

Midwest Donegal Vintage Club has spent months revitalising and refurbishing a Ferguson TE 20 tractor with an approximate date of the year 1956.

In a work shed overlooking the stunning Donegal coastline not far from the small town of Ardara, anything from two to 10 men show up most evenings to “tip away” at fixing up the vintage Fergie.

“We bought the tractor off another club member, Patrick McGettigan,” vintage club secretary Daniel Moy explained.

“It originated in a place called Glencolmcille.”

Ferguson restoration

The vintage Ferguson 20 being restored in Donegal was running when it made its way from Patrick McGettigan’s home to the shed near Ardara.

Eddie Boyd and Daniel Moy from Midwest Donegal Vintage Club

“It was complete and running when we got it. That was the one good thing about this project, was that the engine was perfect,” Daniel said.

“As we went along, we’ve rebuilt the lift, we’ve rebuilt the gearbox, we’ve rebuilt the brakes, we’ve rebuilt the steering.

“We’re down to the last clean and paint.”

The club set up a WhatsApp group inviting members to participate if and when they could, which resulted in anything between two and 10 men turning up most evenings for the work.

“Whoever wants to come can come, and we’ve our tea station down in the corner and we drank a lot of tea and didn’t do a lot of work for a lot of evenings, but that’s part of the craic,” Daniel added.

The team explained that a number of parts needed for the project were sponsored, while other parts were purchased through the club itself.

“We’ve donated parts by other locals; they’ve come from all over,” Daniel continued.

“We haven’t found it that hard to get parts. Parts are fairly readily available for [those Ferguson] 20s.

“But one thing we did focus on was trying to get original parts rather than having to buy new parts, because they’re just that bit better.”

One of the challenging aspects of the restoration involved the lift cover on the tractor.

Daniel explained that the original cover was very worn and when they got a replacement and were about to start that part of the rebuild, they realised that the cover they had gotten was wrong.

“We had to source another one, and that was the biggest stumbling block I suppose we had really. It held us up for a week or two,” Daniel said.

“We never really knew that there was a difference in them [lift covers], but there is.”

The restoration project in Donegal began in October 2025 and as a diversion during the long winter evenings, it provided a great resource for mental health management.

“It takes a lot of time, it does take a lot of time, but I thought it was important that when we got wind from the Irish Vintage Society that this [project] would be happening, I just thought it would be important for men’s mental health,” Daniel said.

“As a kind of a workshop for people to come to for a chat, you know, people who aren’t as interested as much in football or something else, that there is another wee outlet.

“Not saying anything against the women, but there’s lots of things for women to go; there’s badminton classes, yoga, meditation to go to, but there is very little for men to do, especially around here.”

Vintage Club

Midwest Donegal Vintage Club was set up in 2009 and has more than 135 members.

Apart from this special restoration project as part of the AXA Vintage Series competition, the club organises and participates in several events throughout the year.

“We do the road runs for cars and tractors. We’ve started doing specifically vintage road runs for vehicles pre-1996,” Daniel explained.

The club boasts a mix of vintage and classic cars and tractors, as well as motorbikes owned by its members.

“That’s one thing we try to do is keep the young folk involved. We put on a display at the Ardara Agricultural Show every year,” Daniel added.

“To get the young lads involved last year, we specifically reached out to them and asked them to bring their few bits. Some of their cars would be a wee bit newer but even their quads, they polished up really well.

“I just want to try to keep everybody involved because if we don’t keep the young generations involved, the whole thing is going to die a death.”

When Daniel Moy took on the role of secretary of the club in 2009, he was the youngest secretary in the country at that stage.

“I was by far the youngest, but there is more younger people starting to become involved now and it’s good to see,” he said.

Members

Members of Midwest Donegal Vintage Club come from all sorts of backgrounds, some working in plant hire, others mechanics or familiar with machinery and others who might not have the skills to work on the engine itself but were cleaning all the parts.

Daniel Moy explained that the McGettigan family, who owned the Ferguson to start with, were a great help for the restoration.

“Patrick McGettigan has two sons and they’re very good mechanics. They have been a great help through the whole thing,” Daniel said.

The sense of community and camaraderie is evident in this west Donegal project. When the competition was announced, Sean O’Harte immediately offered his workshop shed as a place to host the Fergie project.

“[Seán] said ‘youse work away in that shed for the winter’, that was a great thing to have,” Daniel added.

“We all have our own sheds but we’re all doing something in them and Seán has been laid up with a wild bad back and hasn’t even been able to help us with the build, but it was great to have this space, that we didn’t have to move it or shift it at all.”

As a club, members often undertake activities and challenges throughout the year.

The club loves to travel outside its own region with vintage classics and even undertook a challenge a few years ago where they travelled 100 miles in a day.

Result

While the finishing touches are being put to Donegal’s effort to restore this Fergie 20, the members are so far satisfied with the results.

“We will be [happy]. We’ll get it over the line; there will be a few late nights to get it over the line but it’s coming along well; it looks worse than it is [currently],” Daniel joked.

“The hard work is done, so we’re looking forward to heading down to Wexford for a couple of days [for the final].”

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

Ferguson restoration

Vintage Club

Members

Result

Related Stories

Agriland and AXA team up on series to celebrate the grey Fergie

AXA Vintage Series

AXA Vintage Series: Minding men's mental health with Donegal Fergie rebuild

Agriland and AXA team up on series to celebrate the grey Fergie