The story
The TE20 was Harry Ferguson's post-war tractor, built for him by the Standard Motor Company in Coventry from July 1946. Its secret was the Ferguson System: a three-point linkage and hydraulics that tied the plough to the tractor, pressing the wheels down for grip and making the tractor much less likely to flip.
That meant a small, light, affordable tractor could do the work of a much bigger one. It replaced horses on hundreds of thousands of small farms in Britain and around the world, with about two-thirds of production exported.
Its three-point hitch became the standard that almost every tractor uses today.
Did you knowOn Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition, modified TE20s became the first vehicles driven overland to the South Pole, arriving in January 1958.
For sale
No Ferguson TE20 listings yet. Dealers and private sellers will be able to list them here soon.
Selling one?Specifications
| Engine |
|---|
| Maker | Continental (Z-120) at launch; Standard Motor Company from 1947 |
| Fuel | Petrol at launch; later TVO (TED20), lamp oil (TEH/TEJ20) and diesel (TEF20) |
| Cylinders | 4 |
| Displacement | 1.966 L / 120 cu in |
| Power |
|---|
| Rated engine power | 23.8 hp |
| Drive |
|---|
| Transmission | 4 forward, 1 reverse (constant-mesh, helical gears) |
| Hitch | Ferguson 3-point linkage with draft control hydraulics |
| Size |
|---|
| Weight | 1,225 kg (TEF20 diesel) / 2,701 lb (TEF20 diesel) |
| History |
|---|
| Built | 1946–1956 |
| Factory | Banner Lane, Coventry, England, UK (built by the Standard Motor Company) |
| Number made | 517651 |
| Price new | £343 (1946, UK); TEF20 diesel £490 (1951) |
About these figures. 23.8 bhp is the Continental petrol engine rating given at launch (Commercial Motor, 27 Sept 1946). Ferguson Club gives 23 hp (Continental), 25 hp (Standard petrol TEA20) and 26 hp (TVO TED20); later 85 mm-bore petrol engines made just over 28 hp. Standard engines: 1,849 cc petrol (80 mm bore) and 2,088 cc (85 mm bore); the German Agricultural History Museum record gives the TEF20 diesel as about 2,100 cc, 24 hp at 1,780 rpm. The '20' in the name was a tax rating, not measured power.
