100-557: The Nuffield Universal was a tractor produced from 1948 by the Agricultural Division of Morris Motors , later a subsidiary of The British Motor Corporation Limited . When William Morris the founder of Morris Motors was honoured with a title and elevated to the peerage he chose the name of his Nuffield, Oxfordshire village. When in 1948 the Morris Motors Agricultural Division launched its tractor range,
200-499: A vertical fire-tube boiler . By 1905 they had also begun to build petrol-engined wagons. The Lancashire Steam Motor Company was renamed Leyland Motors in 1907 when it took over Coulthards of Preston , who had been making steam wagons since 1897. They also built a second factory in the neighbouring town of Chorley which still remains today as the headquarters of the Lex Autolease and parts company. In 1920, Leyland Motors produced
300-491: A 20 hp (15 kW) engine. In 1897, it was bought by Mr. Locke-King, the first recorded British tractor sale. That year, it won a Silver Medal from the Royal Agricultural Society of England . It later returned to the factory for a caterpillar track fitting. The first commercially successful light-weight petrol-powered general purpose tractor was built by Dan Albone , a British inventor in 1901. He filed for
400-677: A 45 h.p. BMC diesel engine, tractors with this engine being recognisable as they bear a badge "BMC Diesel". Both variants were in production between 1948 and 1961. The original engine for both M4 and M3 was a Morris Commercial 4-cylinder sidevalve engine running on tractor vaporising oil , delivering 42 hp. A total of 5008 M3/M4 tractors were produced. Produced between 1950 and 1961 A total of 7545 DM4 and 3653 PM4 tractors were produced. Built from 1952 to 1961: Built from 1961 to 1963 or 1964. All tractors built at Bathgate in Scotland from 1962. Built from 1964 to 1966 or 1967. The 10 series
500-514: A 5.9 L Cummins was introduced. It was notable at the time for its low-level passenger side windscreen, featured as a safety aid to enable the driver to see the kerb, although this was removed on later models. The basic cab had a long service life, being used later on the Leyland DAF 45. The Leyland Constructor was a 6x4, three axle wagon with gross weight up to 24 tonnes used as a tipper or on short haul distribution duties. The Leyland Roadtrain
600-504: A Ferguson-designed hydraulic hitch. In 1938 Ferguson entered into a collaboration with Henry Ford to produce the Ford-Ferguson 9N tractor . The three-point hitch soon became the favorite hitch attachment system among farmers around the world. This tractor model also included a rear Power Take Off (PTO) shaft that could be used to power three point hitch mounted implements such as sickle-bar mowers. In 1969, General Electric introduced
700-425: A complete new vehicle at the time, so designers were instructed to utilise as many existing in-house components as possible. It was perceived at the time that the resulting model would be a stopgap until the new T45 range was ready for production toward the latter half of the 1970s. The cab was a re-worked version of the "Ergomatic" tilt cab of 1965, heavily modified with different lower panels, raised height etc., and
800-802: A day's production through industrial action. During World War II , Leyland Motors, along with most vehicle manufacturers, was involved in war production. Leyland built the Cromwell tank at its works from 1943 as well as medium/large trucks such as the Hippo and Retriever . After the war, Leyland Motors continued military manufacture with the Centurion tank . In 1946, AEC and Leyland Motors formed British United Traction to build trolleybuses. In 1955, through an equity agreement, manufacture of commercial vehicles under licence from Leyland Motors commenced in Madras , India at
900-525: A field to haul a plow back and forth between them using a wire cable. In Britain Mann's and Garrett developed steam tractors for direct ploughing, but the heavy, wet soil of England meant that these designs were less economical than a team of horses. In the United States , where soil conditions permitted, steam tractors were used to direct-haul plows. Steam-powered agricultural engines remained in use well into
1000-423: A flexible belt. Richard Trevithick designed the first 'semi-portable' stationary steam engine for agricultural use, known as a "barn engine" in 1812, and it was used to drive a corn threshing machine. The truly portable engine was invented in 1839 by William Tuxford of Boston, Lincolnshire who started manufacture of an engine built around a locomotive-style boiler with horizontal smoke tubes. A large flywheel
1100-410: A means to transfer power to another machine such as a baler , swather , or mower . Unless it functions solely by pulling it through or over the ground, a towed implement needs its own power source (such as a baler or combine with a separate engine) or else a means of transmitting power from the tractor to the mechanical operations of the equipment. Early tractors used belts or cables wrapped around
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#17328524249511200-516: A number of customers who had traditionally purchased other marques from within the Leyland empire—Albion, AEC, Scammell, etcetera – who were now left with no alternative but to have a Leyland-branded vehicle or purchase from elsewhere. Some Constructors, with their Scammell-based chassis, were built with Scammell badging as well. Throughout its production run, engine choices included the AEC-based TL12,
1300-405: A number of roadtrains in its fleet which enjoyed a comparatively long service life (until the late 1990s) before being replaced by the newer DAF 85. Sales were never quite satisfactory, however, with the vacation closure extended in 1986 to reduce unsold stock. Production ended in 1990, a few years after the sale of Leyland Trucks to Dutch firm DAF in 1987, although as a postscript DAF relaunched
1400-411: A part of the tractor, almost as if it were attached by a fixed mount. Previously, when the implement hit an obstacle, the towing link broke or the tractor flipped over. Ferguson's idea was to combine a connection via two lower and one upper lift arms that were connected to a hydraulic lifting ram. The ram was, in turn, connected to the upper of the three links so the increased drag (as when a plough hits
1500-470: A patent on 15 February 1902 for his tractor design and then formed Ivel Agricultural Motors Limited. The other directors were Selwyn Edge , Charles Jarrott , John Hewitt and Lord Willoughby . He called his machine the Ivel Agricultural Motor; the word "tractor" came into common use after Hart-Parr created it. The Ivel Agricultural Motor was light, powerful and compact. It had one front wheel, with
1600-542: A patent, Froelich started up the Waterloo Gasoline Engine Company and invested all of his assets. The venture was very unsuccessful, and by 1895 all was lost and he went out of business. Richard Hornsby & Sons are credited with producing and selling the first oil-engined tractor in Britain, invented by Herbert Akroyd Stuart . The Hornsby-Akroyd Patent Safety Oil Traction Engine was made in 1896 with
1700-529: A risk-mitigation standpoint because of what can go wrong if the operator makes a mistake – transmission damage is possible, and loss of vehicle control can occur if the tractor is towing a heavy load either uphill or downhill – something that tractors often do. Therefore, operator's manuals for most of these tractors state one must always stop the tractor before shifting. In newer designs, unsynchronized transmission designs were replaced with synchronization or with continuously variable transmissions (CVTs). Either
1800-403: A rock) caused the hydraulics to lift the implement until the obstacle was passed. Recently, Bobcat's patent on its front loader connection (inspired by these earlier systems) has expired, and compact tractors are now being outfitted with quick-connect attachments for their front-end loaders . In addition to towing an implement or supplying tractive power through the wheels, most tractors have
1900-433: A rollover risk depending on how the tractive torque was applied. The Fordson tractor was prone to roll backward due to an excessively short wheelbase. The linkage between the implement and the tractor usually had some slack which could lead to jerky starts and greater wear and tear on the tractor and the equipment. Drawbars were appropriate to the dawn of mechanization, because they were very simple in concept and because as
2000-467: A self-propelled one. The alteration was made by fitting a long driving chain between the crankshaft and the rear axle. The first half of the 1860s was a period of great experimentation but by the end of the decade the standard form of the traction engine had evolved and changed little over the next sixty years. It was widely adopted for agricultural use. The first tractors were steam-powered plowing engines . They were used in pairs, placed on either side of
2100-415: A separate, implement-mounted power source, which is almost never seen in modern farm equipment. It is also optional to get a front PTO as well when buying a new tractor. Virtually all modern tractors can also provide external hydraulic fluid and electrical power to the equipment they are towing, either by hoses or wires. Modern tractors have many electrical switches and levers in the cab for controlling
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#17328524249512200-535: A solid rubber tyre, and two large rear wheels like a modern tractor. The engine used water cooling, utilizing the thermo-syphon effect. It had one forward and one reverse gear. A pulley wheel on the left hand side allowed it to be used as a stationary engine , driving a wide range of agricultural machinery. The 1903 sale price was £300. His tractor won a medal at the Royal Agricultural Show , in 1903 and 1904. About 500 were built, and many were exported all over
2300-467: A straight carry over from the preceding "stopgap" model Marathon range, The Rolls-Royce Eagle 265/300 and the Cummins 290 L10 and 14-litre 350 coupled to a Spicer or Eaton transmission, although all versions produced a distinctive whine from the propshaft knuckle joint when approaching 60 mph (97 km/h). The TL12 engine was dropped early on in the production run, with most large fleet buyers choosing
2400-586: A subsidiary of Paccar . Leyland Motors has a long history dating from 1896, when the Sumner and Spurrier families founded the Lancashire Steam Motor Company in the town of Leyland in North West England. Their first products included steam powered lawn mowers . The company's first vehicle was a 1.5-ton-capacity steam powered van. This was followed by a number of undertype steam wagons using
2500-410: A synchronized manual transmission with enough available gear ratios (often achieved with dual ranges, high and low) or a CVT allow the engine speed to be matched to the desired final-drive speed, while keeping engine speed within the appropriate speed (as measured in rotations per minute or rpm) range for power generation (the working range) (whereas throttling back to achieve the desired final-drive speed
2600-421: A two-point "Fast Hitch", and John Deere had a power lift that was somewhat similar to the more flexible Ferguson invention. Once the patent protection expired on the three-point hitch, it became an industry standard. Almost every tractor today features Ferguson's three-point linkage or a derivative of it. This hitch allows for easy attachment and detachment of implements while allowing the implement to function as
2700-454: Is a plug-in, powered by an electrical cable. Kubota is prototyping an autonomous electric tractor. Most older farm tractors use a manual transmission with several gear ratios , typically three to six, sometimes multiplied into two or three ranges. This arrangement provides a set of discrete ratios that, combined with the varying of the throttle, allow final-drive speeds from less than one up to about 25 miles per hour (40 km/h), with
2800-523: Is a trade-off that leaves the working range). The problems, solutions, and developments described here also describe the history of transmission evolution in semi-trailer trucks . The biggest difference is fleet turnover; whereas most of the old road tractors have long since been scrapped, many of the old farm tractors are still in use. Therefore, old transmission design and operation is primarily just of historical interest in trucking, whereas in farming it still often affects daily life. The power produced by
2900-538: Is currently available (2021). 1:32 scale models have been produced of both the Universal 4 and the 10/60 variants. There have also been limited edition hand-built models of the 4/60 and 10/60 available. Tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque ) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture , mining or construction . Most commonly,
3000-564: Is entering the European truck market directly. With its purchase of a 26% stake in UK-based bus manufacturer Optare in 2010, Ashok Leyland has taken a step closer to reconnecting with its British heritage, as Optare is a direct descendant of Leyland's UK bus-making division. On 21 December 2011, Ashok Leyland bought an additional 49% stake in Optare, bringing its total to 75%. Historically, Leyland Motors
3100-653: Is still in service, but has now been replaced by the MAN version. In this format the British Army purchased 1,440 vehicles plus a significant number of spare Roadtrain cabs, to allow for accident damage The Leyland Landtrain was produced between 1980 and 1987, specifically for export markets. A bonneted design, it was built in the UK and exported in completed and kit form, the latter for local construction in Kenya and Nigeria. The Leyland Comet
Nuffield Universal - Misplaced Pages Continue
3200-443: Is the replacement of wheels or steel crawler-type tracks with flexible, steel-reinforced rubber tracks, usually powered by hydrostatic or completely hydraulic driving mechanisms. The configuration of these tractors bears little resemblance to the classic farm tractor design. The predecessors of modern tractors, traction engines, used steam engines for power. Since the turn of the 20th century, internal combustion engines have been
3300-551: Is via a quick hitch, which is attached to the three-point hitch. This enables a single person to attach an implement quicker and put the person in less danger when attaching the implement. The three-point hitch revolutionized farm tractors and their implements. While the Ferguson System was still under patent, other manufacturers developed new hitching systems to try to fend off some of Ferguson's competitive advantage. For example, International Harvester's Farmall tractors gained
3400-679: The British Leyland Motor Corporation , formed when it merged with British Motor Holdings in 1968, to become British Leyland after being nationalised . British Leyland later changed its name to simply BL, then in 1986 to Rover Group . After the various vehicle manufacturing businesses of BL and its successors went defunct or were divested, the following marques survived: Jaguar and Land Rover , now built by Jaguar Land Rover owned by TATA Motors ; MG , now built by MG Motor , and Mini , now built by BMW . The truck building operation survived largely intact as Leyland Trucks ,
3500-789: The Elec-Trak , the first commercial, electric tractor (electric-powered garden tractor). The Elec-Trak was manufactured by General Electric until 1975. Electric tractors are manufactured by a German company, Fendt , and by US companies, Solectrac and Monarch Tractor. John Deere 's protoype electric tractor is a plug-in, powered by an electrical cable. Kubota is prototyping an autonomous electric tractor. Tractors can be generally classified by number of axles or wheels, with main categories of two-wheel tractors (single-axle tractors) and four-wheel tractors (two-axle tractors); more axles are possible but uncommon. Among four-wheel tractors (two-axle tractors), most are two-wheel drive (usually at
3600-536: The Kingston upon Thames factory at Ham from 1922 to 1928. Three generations of Spurriers controlled Leyland Motors from its foundation until the retirement of Henry Spurrier in 1964. Spurrier inherited control of Leyland Motors from his father in 1942, and successfully guided its growth during the postwar years. Whilst the Spurrier family were in control the company enjoyed excellent labour relations—reputedly never losing
3700-536: The Leyland Eight luxury touring car, a development of which was driven by J.G. Parry-Thomas at Brooklands . Parry-Thomas was later killed in an attempt on the land speed record when the car overturned. Rumours that a chain drive broke were found to be incorrect when the car was disinterred late in the 20th century as the chains were intact. At the other extreme, they also produced the Trojan Utility Car in
3800-506: The Rover brand that Leyland had bought in the 1960s, and would eventually gain prominence as BL gradually retired most of its marques. The equity stake in Ashok Leyland was controlled by Land Rover Leyland International Holdings, and sold in 1987. At this point, while building about 10,000 trucks per annum, Leyland was more and more depending on outside engines as production of their own 98-series
3900-545: The Smithfield Show in December of that year. The tractors were produced in a bright red-orange officially referred to as "Poppy Orange" and similar in hue to the colour of American Allis-Chalmers tractors. The M3 and M4 both had a 5-speed gearbox and came with a range of additional extras available including £9 for horn and lights. Initial production was for domestic use, but by 1950 export opportunities were being pursued. In
4000-413: The flywheel or a separate belt pulley to power stationary equipment, such as a threshing machine, buzz saw, silage blower, or stationary baler. In most cases, it was impractical for the tractor and equipment to move with a flexible belt or cable between them, so this system required the tractor to remain in one location, with the work brought to the equipment, or the tractor to be relocated at each turn and
4100-573: The side-valve Morris Commercial four-cylinder lorry engine, running on tractor vaporising oil and delivering 42 hp. The first diesel powered Nuffield was the Universal DM4 which was powered by a 38 hp Perkins P4 (TA) engine. After Morris Motors became part of the British Motor Corporation (BMC) in 1951, the Perkins engine was retained until 1954 when it was replaced by
Nuffield Universal - Misplaced Pages Continue
4200-493: The 1910s, when they became smaller and more affordable. Henry Ford introduced the Fordson , a wildly popular mass-produced tractor, in 1917. They were built in the U.S., Ireland, England and Russia, and by 1923, Fordson had 77% of the U.S. market. The Fordson dispensed with a frame, using the strength of the engine block to hold the machine together. By the 1920s, tractors with gasoline-powered internal combustion engines had become
4300-611: The 20th century until reliable internal combustion engines had been developed. The first gasoline powered tractors were built in Illinois, by John Charter combining single cylinder Otto engines with a Rumley Steam engine chassis, in 1889. In 1892, John Froelich built a gasoline-powered tractor in Clayton County, Iowa , US. A Van Duzen single-cylinder gasoline engine was mounted on a Robinson engine chassis, which could be controlled and propelled by Froelich's gear box. After receiving
4400-532: The British Government approached the Nuffield Organisation suggesting that they design and manufacture a new all-British tractor. Having given this due consideration, Morris Motors Limited vice chairman Sir Miles Thomas announced to the I.S.M.A at Hull in 1946 "Nuffield to Make Tractors". Designed by former David Brown tractor designer Dr. H E Merritt, who had been involved in tank design during
4500-477: The Rolls-Royce engine. The Roadtrain was available in day- and sleeper-cabbed form, in high and low datum versions—this refers to the cab height—high datum versions were intended as long haul vehicles with higher mounted cabs and more internal space. 6x2 versions were built in high cab form only on a chassis that was basically that of the ageing Scammell trunker. The Constructor's chassis was entirely Routeman behind
4600-461: The TL12. Other engine options included a 200 bhp Leyland L11, as well as Cummins 10- and 14-litre engines at 250 and 330 bhp, respectively. Production began in 1973, and various shortcomings were noted, including below-par heating and ventilation, and pronounced cab roll. However, road testers of the time were very impressed by the truck's power and performance. In 1977, the redesigned "Marathon 2"
4700-525: The Titan and Tiger ranges in 1927 that revolutionised bus design. After 1945, Leyland created another milestone with the trend-setting Atlantean rear-engined double-decker bus design produced between 1956 and 1986. See List of Leyland buses for the list of bus products. The G-series cab was built in Bathgate and was available with several different names, such as Terrier, Clydesdale, and Reiver. After this cab
4800-672: The US Nuffield tractors were imported by Long Manufacturing and were rebadged by them. The Nuffield also proved popular in the Netherlands initially being imported by Bautz; the Nuffield 4 was marketed as the Nuffield "Vier". In Spain the branding was Sava Nuffield. Petrol-paraffin engine models introduced at the 1948 Smithfield Show were the Nuffield Universal M4 and the tricycle-wheeled M3. Both tractors were powered by an engine based on
4900-665: The United States, and is on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. The two-cylinder engine has a unique hit-and-miss firing cycle that produced 30 hp (22 kW) at the belt and 18 hp (13 kW) at the drawbar. In 1908, the Saunderson Tractor and Implement Co. of Bedford introduced a four-wheel design, and became the largest tractor manufacturer in Britain at
5000-577: The admittedly short life of commercial vehicles, any Roadtrain in commercial operation is now a very rare sight indeed. However, a small number remain in use throughout the country as towing-and-recovery vehicles. The army made use of an 8x6 version of the Roadtrain as a hook loader until recently. This is known to the British Army as Medium Mobility Load System (MMLS) Demountable Rack Offload and Pickup System (DROPS), which has seen action in Iraq and Afghanistan and
5100-617: The bus and truck production becoming the Leyland Truck & Bus division within the Land Rover Leyland Group . This division was split into Leyland Bus and Leyland Trucks in 1981. Leyland Trucks depended on British sales as well as export markets, mainly Commonwealth and ex-Commonwealth markets. The early 1980s were very hard, with export sales drying up in many places such as oil-dependent Nigeria . In 1986, BL changed its name to Rover Group , with its name being derived from
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#17328524249515200-570: The cab, albeit with altered suspension and with the front chassis rails splayed wider apart to fit the new C40 cab. In 1986, the high roofed Roadtrain interstate was introduced, a top of the range long distance truck with standing room inside. The Roadtrain was a common sight throughout most of the 1980s, with a great many of the major fleet users in the UK such as Tesco , Blue Circle Industries (unusually with high datum day cabs) and BRS running them. The firm of Swain's based in Rochester , Kent had
5300-526: The clutches. Twinned brake pedals - one each for left and right side wheels- are placed together on the right side. Some have a pedal for a foot throttle on the far right. Unlike automobiles, throttle speed can also be controlled by a hand-operated lever ("hand throttle"), which may be set to a fixed position. This helps provide a constant speed in field work. It also helps provide continuous power for stationary tractors that are operating an implement by PTO shaft or axle driven belt. The foot throttle gives
5400-510: The engine compartment. This basic design has remained unchanged for a number of years after being pioneered by Wallis, but enclosed cabs are fitted on almost all modern models, for operator safety and comfort. In some localities with heavy or wet soils, notably in the Central Valley of California, the "Caterpillar" or "crawler" type of tracked tractor became popular due to superior traction and flotation. These were usually maneuvered through
5500-430: The engine must be transmitted to the implement or equipment to do the actual work intended for the equipment. This may be accomplished via a drawbar or hitch system if the implement is to be towed or otherwise pulled through the tractive power of the engine, or via a pulley or power takeoff system if the implement is stationary, or a combination of the two. Plows and other tillage equipment are most commonly connected to
5600-468: The first named Volvo Bus model, the Volvo Olympian , and aside from minor frame changes the major alterations were the fitment of Volvo axles, braking system, and controls. Both were the best selling double-deck bus chassis of their time. The Leyland name and logo continues as a recognised and respected marque across India, the wider subcontinent and parts of Africa in the form of Ashok Leyland . Part of
5700-484: The fore-runners of the traction engine . In most cases this was achieved by fitting a sprocket on the end of the crankshaft, and running a chain from this to a larger sprocket on the rear axle. These experiments met with mixed success. The first proper traction engine , in the form recognisable today, was developed in 1859 when British engineer Thomas Aveling modified a Clayton & Shuttleworth portable engine , which had to be hauled from job to job by horses, into
5800-507: The forward power unit while the trailing unit is not steered separately. In the early 21st century, articulated or non-articulated, steerable multitrack tractors have largely supplanted the Caterpillar type for farm use. Larger types of modern farm tractors include articulated four-wheel or eight-wheel drive units with one or two power units which are hinged in the middle and steered by hydraulic clutches or pumps. A relatively recent development
5900-638: The giant Hinduja Group , Ashok Leyland manufactures buses, trucks, defence vehicles and engines. The company is a leader in the heavy transportation sector within India and has an aggressive expansionary policy. In 1987 the London based Hinduja Group bought the Indian-based Ashok Leyland company. Today, Ashok-Leyland is pursuing a joint venture with Nissan , and through its acquisition of the Czech truck maker, Avia,
6000-431: The implement being semi-permanently attached with bolts or other mounting hardware. Usually, it was impractical to remove the implement and reinstall it on a day-to-day basis. As a result, the tractor was unavailable for other uses and dedicated to a single use for an appreciable period of time. An implement was generally mounted at the beginning of its season of use (such as tillage, planting or harvesting) and removed when
6100-531: The lower speeds used for working the land and the highest speed used on the road. Slow, controllable speeds are necessary for most of the operations performed with a tractor. They help give the farmer a larger degree of control in certain situations, such as field work. When travelling on public roads, the slow operating speeds can cause problems, such as long queues or tailbacks, which can delay or annoy motorists in cars and trucks. These motorists are responsible for being duly careful around farm tractors and sharing
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#17328524249516200-423: The merger to happen without some accompanying political imperative and nothing came of the move. Most versions of Nuffied tractors are still in existence, perhaps both an illustration of the strength of the design and the fondness that people feel for the marque. Parts, including some newly manufactured replacements, are still available from specialist stockists. A special paint colour named "Nuffield Tractor Orange"
6300-465: The model in low-datum form (it was already manufacturing the large DAF 95) as the DAF 80, using the Roadtrain cab with the 11.6-litre (710 cu in) DAF 330 ATi engine (quite ironic, given that this engine had its roots in the Leyland O.680 ). This model was produced for a relatively short time until 1993 with the launch of the brand new cabbed DAF 85. Due partly to the cab's propensity to rust and also to
6400-458: The multitude of different functions available on the tractor. Some modern farm tractors retain a traditional manual transmission ; increasingly they have hydraulically driven powershift transmissions and CVT, which vastly simplify operation. Those with powershift transmissions have identical pedal arrangements on the floor for the operator to actuate, replacing a clutch pedal on the far left with an inching pedal that cuts off hydraulic flow to
6500-486: The name Nuffield was chosen to be the brand name for the company's agricultural products. The design was similar to the new David Brown built tractors as the designer Dr. Merit had also worked on the design of the David Brown 50D before moving to Nuffield. Nuffield were part of the amalgamations that created British Leyland in 1968, becoming part of Leyland Tractors . In 1945 as part of post World War 2 recovery plans,
6600-481: The new Ashok factory. The products were branded as Ashok Leyland . Leyland Motors acquired other companies in the post war years: Donald Stokes , previously Sales Director, was appointed managing director of Leyland Motors Limited in September 1962. Originally a Leyland student apprentice he had grown up with the company. He became chairman in 1966. Chronologically, the 1960s growth of Leyland Motor Corporation (LMC)
6700-460: The norm. The first three-point hitches were experimented with in 1917. After Harry Ferguson applied for a British patent for his three-point hitch in 1926, they became popular. A three-point attachment of the implement to the tractor is the simplest and the only statically determinate way of joining two bodies in engineering. The Ferguson-Brown Company produced the Model A Ferguson-Brown tractor with
6800-483: The operator more automobile-like control over the speed of a mobile tractor in any operation. Leyland Motors Leyland Motors Limited (later known as the Leyland Motor Corporation ) was an English vehicle manufacturer of lorries , buses and trolleybuses . The company diversified into car manufacturing with its acquisitions of Triumph and Rover in 1960 and 1967, respectively. It gave its name to
6900-415: The operator to engage the clutch to shift between gears. This mode of use is inherently unsuited to some of the work tractors do, and has been circumvented in various ways over the years. For existing unsynchronized tractors, the methods of circumvention are double clutching or power-shifting, both of which require the operator to rely on skill to speed-match the gears while shifting, and are undesirable from
7000-406: The power set-up reapplied (as in cable-drawn plowing systems used in early steam tractor operations). Modern tractors use a power take-off (PTO) shaft to provide rotary power to machinery that may be stationary or pulled. The PTO shaft generally is at the rear of the tractor, and can be connected to an implement that is either towed by a drawbar or a three-point hitch. This eliminates the need for
7100-481: The power source of choice. Between 1900 and 1960, gasoline was the predominant fuel, with kerosene (the Rumely Oil Pull was the most notable of this kind)being a common alternative. Generally, one engine could burn any of those, although cold starting was easiest on gasoline. Often, a small auxiliary fuel tank was available to hold gasoline for cold starting and warm-up, while the main fuel tank held whatever fuel
7200-425: The rear ); but many are two-wheel drive with front wheel assist, four-wheel drive (often with articulated steering), or track crawler (with steel or rubber tracks). The classic farm tractor is a simple open vehicle , with two very large driving wheels on an axle below a single seat (the seat and steering wheel consequently are in the center), and the engine in front of the driver, with two steerable wheels below
7300-601: The road with them, but many shirk this responsibility, so various ways to minimize the interaction or minimize the speed differential are employed where feasible. Some countries (for example the Netherlands ) employ a road sign on some roads that means "no farm tractors". Some modern tractors, such as the JCB Fastrac, are now capable of much higher road speeds of around 50 mph (80 km/h). Older tractors usually have unsynchronized transmission designs, which often require
7400-441: The season ended. The drawbar system was virtually the exclusive method of attaching implements (other than direct attachment to the tractor) before Harry Ferguson developed the three-point hitch . Equipment attached to the three-point hitch can be raised or lowered hydraulically with a control lever. The equipment attached to the three-point hitch is usually completely supported by the tractor. Another way to attach an implement
7500-514: The second world war, Petrolium based fuel was scarce in many European nations. So they resorted to using wood gasifires on every vehicle, including tractors. In some countries such as Germany, biodiesel is often used. Some other biofuels such as straight vegetable oil are also being used by some farmers. Prototype battery powered electric tractors are being developed by a German company, Fendt , and by two US companies, Solectrac and Monarch Tractor. John Deere 's protoype electric tractor
7600-451: The term is used to describe a farm vehicle that provides the power and traction to mechanize agricultural tasks, especially (and originally) tillage , and now many more. Agricultural implements may be towed behind or mounted on the tractor, and the tractor may also provide a source of power if the implement is mechanised. The word tractor was taken from Latin , being the agent noun of trahere "to pull". The first recorded use of
7700-544: The time. While the earlier, heavier tractors were initially very successful, it became increasingly apparent at this time that the weight of a large supporting frame was less efficient than lighter designs. Henry Ford introduced a light-weight, mass-produced design which largely displaced the heavier designs. Some companies halfheartedly followed suit with mediocre designs, as if to disprove the concept, but they were largely unsuccessful in that endeavor. While unpopular at first, these gasoline-powered machines began to catch on in
7800-499: The tractor replaced the horse, existing horse-drawn implements usually already had running gear. As the history of mechanization progressed, the advantages of other hitching systems became apparent, leading to new developments (see below). Depending on the function for which a tractor is used, though, the drawbar is still one of the usual means of attaching an implement to a tractor (see photo at left). Some tractor manufacturers produced matching equipment that could be directly mounted on
7900-401: The tractor via a drawbar . The classic drawbar is simply a steel bar attached to the tractor (or in some cases, as in the early Fordsons, cast as part of the rear transmission housing) to which the hitch of the implement was attached with a pin or by a loop and clevis . The implement could be readily attached and removed, allowing the tractor to be used for other purposes on a daily basis. If
8000-431: The tractor was equipped with a swinging drawbar, then it could be set at the center or offset from center to allow the tractor to run outside the path of the implement. The drawbar system necessitated the implement having its own running gear (usually wheels) and in the case of a plow, chisel cultivator or harrow, some sort of lift mechanism to raise it out of the ground at turns or for transport. Drawbars necessarily posed
8100-399: The tractor. Examples included front-end loaders, belly mowers, row crop cultivators, corn pickers and corn planters. In most cases, these fixed mounts were proprietary and unique to each make of tractor, so an implement produced by John Deere, for example, could not be attached to a Minneapolis Moline tractor. Another disadvantage was mounting usually required some time and labor, resulting in
8200-433: The tractors were renamed as Leyland Tractors and the previous poppy-red tractors changed to the new two-tone blue Leyland corporate colour scheme. However the final end of Nuffield may have been different as it is reported that British Leyland considered divesting itself of the tractor business and a sale to David Brown . Some preparatory effort was made but there does not seem to have been sufficient commercial benefit for
8300-437: The use of turning brake pedals and separate track clutches operated by levers rather than a steering wheel. Four-wheel drive tractors began to appear in the 1960s. Some four-wheel drive tractors have the standard "two large, two small" configuration typical of smaller tractors, while some have four large, powered wheels. The larger tractors are typically an articulated, center-hinged design steered by hydraulic cylinders that move
8400-452: The vehicle trade, but unfamiliar to much of the general public. In Canada and the US , the word may also refer to the road tractor portion of a tractor trailer truck , but also usually refers to the piece of farm equipment. The first powered farm implements in the early 19th century were portable engines – steam engines on wheels that could be used to drive mechanical farm machinery by way of
8500-599: The war, tractor manufacture was to be undertaken at the former Wolseley factory in Birmingham as car production had recently been moved to Cowley, and by May 1946 a prototype tractor had been produced. A further 12 prototypes were produced before the end of that year culminating in a demonstration in Pershore in December. Due to steel shortages, production started in 1948 with the Nuffield Universal tractor being launched at
8600-446: The word meaning "an engine or vehicle for pulling wagons or plows" occurred in 1896, from the earlier term " traction motor" (1859). In the UK , Ireland , Australia , India , Spain , Argentina , Slovenia , Serbia , Croatia , the Netherlands , and Germany , the word "tractor" usually means "farm tractor", and the use of the word "tractor" to mean other types of vehicles is familiar to
8700-504: The world. The original engine was made by Payne & Co. of Coventry . After 1906, French Aster engines were used. The first successful American tractor was built by Charles W. Hart and Charles H. Parr . They developed a two-cylinder gasoline engine and set up their business in Charles City, Iowa . In 1903, the firm built 15 tractors. Their 14,000 pounds (6,400 kg) #3 is the oldest surviving internal combustion engine tractor in
8800-640: Was a major manufacturer of buses used in the United Kingdom and worldwide. It achieved a number of firsts or milestones that set trends for the bus industry. It was one of the first manufacturers to devise chassis designs for buses that were different from trucks, with a lower chassis level to help passengers board more easily. Its chief designer, John George Rackham, who had experience at the Yellow Coach Company in Chicago before returning to England, created
8900-725: Was a max weight model with distance work in mind. The T45's cab is called the C40 and its design was a joint effort between Leyland, BRS and Ogle Design and was seen as the height of modernity when compared with its predecessors, the idea being to have one basic design to replace the various outgoing models (for example, the Bathgate built the G cab on the Terrier, the Ergomatic cabbed the Lynx, Beaver etc.). This did indeed make good economic sense; however, there has been speculation that Leyland did in fact alienate
9000-461: Was a range of heavy goods vehicle tractor units manufactured by Leyland Trucks between 1980 and 1990. The nomenclature "T45" refers to the truck range as a whole and encompasses models such as the lightweight 7.5-ton Roadrunner, Freighter (fourwheel rigid truck), Constructor (multi-axle rigid tipper or mixer chassis – its chassis owing much to the outgoing Scammell 8-wheeler Routeman ), and Cruiser (basic spec low weight tractor unit). The Roadtrain itself
9100-593: Was as follows: In 1968 Leyland Motors merged with British Motor Holdings (BMH) to form the British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMC). BMH, which was the product of an earlier merger between the British Motor Corporation , the Pressed Steel Company and Jaguar , brought with it more marques , including Daimler , Guy , BMC , Austin , MG and Morris . Leyland diesel engines were used in Finnish Sisu and Vanaja lorries and buses in 1960s. The BLMC group
9200-467: Was available in day and sleeper cab form. Engines were decided from the outset to be in the higher power category to be competitive with rival vehicles. The only existing engine within the Leyland empire suitable for such an application (following the demise of the ill-fated fixed-head 500 series and AEC's underdeveloped and unreliable V8) was the AEC AV760 straight-six, which was turbocharged and designated as
9300-429: Was claimed to be the first British tractor with 10 forward gears. Built from 1965 to 1968. This model had a 16 horsepower (12 kW) engine. Built from 1967 to 1969. In 1968, BMC's holding company British Motor Holdings was amalgamated with the Leyland Motor Corporation which also owned Standard Triumph and Rover to become British Leyland . Tractor production continued under the Nuffield name until 1969 when
9400-524: Was difficult to manage because of the many companies under its control, often making similar products. This, and other reasons, led to financial difficulties and in December 1974 British Leyland had to receive a guarantee from the British government. In 1975, after the publication of the Ryder Report and the company's bankruptcy, BLMC was nationalised as British Leyland (BL) and split into four divisions with
9500-548: Was introduced in 1986, also designed for export markets mainly in the developing world. As such, it was a no-frills vehicle of a simple and sturdy design, with five- or six-speed transmissions rather than the multi-speed units used on European models. The cabin was a simplified all-steel version of that used by the Roadrunner, designed to enable local assembly. The three-axle version is called the Super Comet. Leyland Motors produced
9600-527: Was launched, an updated and revised vehicle that attempted to address some of the previous criticisms of the earlier vehicle. Relatively few Marathons of all types were sold before production ended in 1979 with the introduction of the T45 "roadtrain" range of vehicles. This was Leyland's answer to the Ford cargo in the non-HGV 7.5-ton truck sector. Launched in 1984, it utilised a Leyland 698 straight-six engine until 1986, when
9700-851: Was most convenient or least expensive for the particular farmer. In the United Kingdom, a gasoline-kerosene engine is known as a petrol-paraffin engine . Dieselisation gained momentum starting in the 1960s, and modern farm tractors usually employ diesel engines , which range in power output from 18 to 575 horsepower (15 to 480 kW). Size and output are dependent on application, with smaller tractors used for lawn mowing , landscaping, orchard work, and truck farming , and larger tractors for vast fields of wheat, corn, soy, and other bulk crops. Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) or propane also have been used as tractor fuels, but require special pressurized fuel tanks and filling equipment and produced less power, so are less prevalent in most markets. Most are confined for inside work due to their clean burning. During
9800-414: Was mounted on the crankshaft, and a stout leather belt was used to transfer the drive to the equipment being driven. In the 1850s, John Fowler used a Clayton & Shuttleworth portable engine to drive apparatus in the first public demonstrations of the application of cable haulage to cultivation. In parallel with the early portable engine development, many engineers attempted to make them self-propelled –
9900-563: Was replaced the tooling was shipped to Turkey, where BMC's Turkish subsidiary built it as the "BMC Yavuz" and then as the "Fatih" (with Cummins engines) from 1986 until 1996. The Marathon was Leyland's answer to the booming "max cap" truck fad at the start of the 1970s. Imports such as the Volvo F88 and Scania 110/140 were selling very well in the UK thanks to the previously unheard of levels of driver comfort, reliability, quality and performance. Leyland had insufficient money for development of
10000-550: Was steadily declining. The 1986 closure of Bedford Vehicles ' heavy truck plant further harmed Leyland, as they had been planning on selling axles and other components to the General Motors subsidiary. The bus operations was sold in a management buyout to form Leyland Bus , and was subsequently bought by Volvo in 1988, which then discontinued most of its product range but kept the Olympian . Volvo reengineered and renamed it as
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