Make hay while the sun shines
"The tractor that won the war". The Fordson Model N is famously known by this nickname for being the most common tractor used during Britain's wartime "ploughing campaigns".
It all began from this old photo - my dad standing proudly beside our Curburnie Croft neighbour, Adam MacDonald, the tractor’s former owner. Adam had bought the Fordson Model N for just £10 from his work at Aird Motors, Beauly and used it only to power a saw next door! Back then, the steady chug of its engine was occasionally heard as part of the soundtrack of Croft life.
When Adam was done with it, the old Fordson was left to rest and rust, quietly tucked away in the corner of a field. For thirty years, it sat there, its once-bright paint dulled by time and weather.
Then one day, Dad decided it was time to bring it back to life. To see it running again after decades of silence was something special, not just a restoration, but a revival of history.
Here are the before, during, and after photos of that journey, from rust to revival, from memory to motion once more.
Crofting is a family affair
On the Culburnie croft, we’re still putting the tractor to good use on the land.
The reliable Fordson Model N was the tractor most often used by the hard-working women of the Land Army. With so many men fighting in the war, mechanisation was crucial.
In 1998, four generations of the reliable and hard-working Mackenzie women were assisting with the harvest!
Watch (and listen) to this short clip of the Fordson N in action!
“That’s the workers earning their crust!”
Simple yet powerful
The 27-horsepower Fordson N was valued for its ruggedness, reliability, and simple operation. It was powerful enough to pull plows and disks, which would have required multiple mules or horses to pull.
By enabling the conversion of 6.1 million extra acres of land to arable production, the Fordson helped provide enough food for the United Kingdom to withstand the threat of German U-boats sinking supply ships.
Due to the thick oil specifications and splash lubrication, starting the tractor in cold weather was notoriously difficult. In some cases, farmers would light a fire beneath the engine to warm up the oil for easier cranking.
Earlier Fordson models were not equipped with a braking system. To stop the tractor, the driver would simply depress the clutch. Or in Tommy’s case shout ‘watch out’!