The Unlikely Tractor

[TR3driver]

I love reading this old article from March 71 Car & Driver ... just had to share.

 

[rlwhitetr3b]

It was explained on another list, by a former triumph employee, that the engine was designed for a car. It was change a little and used for the tractor. He was very emphatic that it was an automotive engine that was used in a tractor.

 

[prb51]

A local gent retired from England told me the same. He apprenticed at the Coventry works and said it was an auto motor originally but that succumbed, due to it's robust nature, to the urban legend of the tractor motor.
I like the urban legend best though.

 

[tdskip]

Thanks for posting that Randall - I really enjoyed it!

 

[TR3driver]

Yes, I agree, the TRactor motor was an original design by the Standard-Triumph Company; bearing little or no resemblance to the Continental motor used in Ferguson tractors before they switched to the wet-liner "Vanguard" engine.

But with respect to Jonmac, I think it's somewhat difficult to know for certain exactly what Sir John had in mind when he approved development of the new motor. It seems more likely to me that he had his eye on both car and tractor production, an "engine for all reasons". Certainly the tractor application preceded the TR development.

Whether or not the tractor application preceded the Vanguard itself is another point of debate ... the cars were announced at very nearly the same time the tractor line switched engines (July 47); but according to Langworth & Robson, the first Vanguard was not completed until a year later, in the summer of 48.

 

[myspitfire]

THAT GREAT READING "BY CRACKY" I'll dream of that when i go to bed most likely with some modifications..Most likely get up in the morning with sweaty palms too & with a sore foot ;-)
Ken&WhiteLightning

 

[vettedog72]

Thanks for the artical TR3. It makes good reading and it is a keeper in my book.

 

[aeronca65t]

Great article, especially since I owned a TR-3 at the time that was written.

And it reminds me of some of the great stuff they used to have in Car and Driver magazine.
These days I wouldn't use C and D to line the bottom of a bird cage, but in the old days, it was an excellent publication.

 

[Guest]

Obtaining ignition parts for my TR3 in 1972 from a NAPA dealer was not an easy thing to do. I ask them to let me look at their Massey-Furguson tractor catalog. Voila, Partus Unobtainium was sitting on the shelf!

 

[Guest]

Only problem was, after I got it running a darn cow kept following me home.

 

[CinneaghTR]

Thanks for the reference, Randall!!

 

[sail]

It was an evil sounding, raucous little bastard that would lure you into a corner all cozily.

Thanks for the article. From 71, hum, sounds like my old girlfriend from the time that smoked and driped like my car does now. I get along with the TR much better.

 

[Eric]

I have a Fergie, and yes its engine bears kinship to the TR3. The Fergies that Americans are familiar with are the TO20 (O for overseas), that came with the Continental engine. No TR connection. The UK and the Commonwealth (including Canada) got the TE20 (E for England), which had the Standard Vanguard derived 2 L wet liner motor. There are a lot of detail differences from a TR3 motor, but anyone familiar with 4 cyl TR motors would recognize it instantly.

So, the TR3 and and the Fergie motors share common parentage, but they're not the same. The major castings are the same, but the rods, pistons, manifolds, carburation, etc are different - tuned for lazy low end torque in the tractor. (by tractor standards, the TR3 motor is a screamer)

My Fergie was built in 1955 and has worked for a living all its life. At -20C (about 0F) it starts first crack, and happily plows my 1/2 mile steep driveway all winter. Google Harry Ferguson and learn more. He was an interesting, eccentric chap who revolutionized modern tractors.

 

[martx-5]

Great article. I forwarded that to my kids with the subject line of "Why I'm Restoring a TR3"... /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/thankyousign.gif /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cheers.gif

 

[roofman]

Remember, Lamborgini made tractors........

 

[Twosheds]

Yes, I agree, the TRactor motor was an original design by the Standard-Triumph Company; bearing little or no resemblance to the Continental motor used in Ferguson tractors before they switched to the wet-liner "Vanguard" engine.

Years ago, as I worked on my ex-future-father-in-law's Continental-Ferguson, I thought that I recognized the engine. Then it hit me - the pushrod tubes in the head looked like my TR3 engine's.

He also had a Ford-Ferguson, but preferred the Continental powered tractor. "She'll walk!", he boasted about her plowing capability.

Here's a Continental powered Fergie. The starter is on the opposite side, but...

"Sing... while you're dancing, the Continental
It's so exciting, the Continental"

 

[DNK]

The Healey hundred was out of a delivery truck.

 

[TR3driver]

Here's a Continental powered Fergie. The starter is on the opposite side, but...

Actually, the "TR" powered Ferguson also had the starter on the left. Here's a comparison of the TR2-4 motor to the real tractor motor (by a man who owns both) :
https://www.geocities.com/wallaces_23/fergie_TR.html

 

[swift6]

Remember, Lamborgini made tractors........

Though I think the companies are now separate, you can still buy brand new Lamborghini tractors. John Deere has their yellow and "John Deere Green", Lamborghini tractors are Silver and Black (at least all of the ones that I saw were). Feruccio's original enterprise is still alive and plowing. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif

 

[Andrew Mace]

Great article, especially if one ignores numerous factual errors*! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif

*Too many to list here.