The Ferguson Brown (Ferguson Type A) tractor was developed after Harry realised that no existing tractor would be suitable for the inclusion of the linkage system he had designed, with its hydraulic lift with load sensing, underground obstruction detection and automatic implement depth control. Typically, Harry decided he would need to design a tractor from scratch himself.

THE FIRST TRACTOR

Harry's first tractor was the 'Black Tractor’ (named for the colour it was painted), or ‘Irish tractor’ as Harry called it. Very different from its contemporaries, it was far more effective than the add-ons he had been working on. Most importantly, it made the business of ploughing far safer, ending the potentially fatal tendency of existing tractors to tip over backwards when encountering obstacles. Harry’s tractor was revolutionary in that it was light with a small engine but could operate all the emplements, including the plough with ease. Implements could be attached or detatched in less than a minute and the driver could control the raising, lowering and set the depth of any Ferguson implement by the touch of a finger, without effort and from the seat.

DAVID BROWN & SONS LTD

Harry designed a complete range of implements to cover all the jobs that a farmer needed to carry out - ploughs, cultivators, tillers, ridgers, hoes, grass mowers, loaders, manure spreaders, trailers, link boxes etc.

Recognising their potential, David Brown, of the long established engineering firm David Brown & Sons Ltd, agreed to build these machines in Huddersfield. Although, just 1,350 were built, the features of the modern tractor had been established. Later models were known as Ferguson Brown and eventually David Brown, as Harry cast his net wider in an effort to manufacture them on a mass-produced basis, thus making them less expensive to buy.