The Nuffield Universal first came out as an M3, three wheel, and the M4 four wheel with the Morris engine developed from the car and truck engine. It was either petrol or petrol/kerosene. They were way ahead of the time with a change from petrol to kerosene (we call it TVO, Tractor Vaporising Oil), by pulling out the choke, (petrol on) when warm, pushing the choke in, (petrol off TVO on). Back in the day The Nuffields only real competitor was the Fordson Major E27N which was very crude, with only three gears against the Nuffields five. On the Major you still had to stop and switch taps to change from petrol to TVO.
The Nuffield was also very fast on the road and had something we called "Super Throttle". There was a stop at maximum engine speed on the throttle lever but the lever could be moved sideways slightly and then pulled back to give more revs if needed.
Hydraulics and PTO were optional extras back then, most farms still used trailed equipment. The hydraulics bolt on the rear casting as a complete unit. That is why there is no position for a cross shaft. Mounted equipment was available for the Ferguson tractor but this was smaller and only worked with the Ferguson system. Fergusons were small tractors and used mainly for light work whereas Nuffields and Majors did the heavy stuff.
By around 1946 Ford were seeing that diesel was the way to go and fitted the Perkins P6 as an option in the Major. Just after WW2 Britain was still having shortages and rationing so Ford and Nuffield were restricted on tractor development, they used what engines were available. Because, unlike the Major, the Nuffield had a fixed chassis it was easier for them to fit the Perkins P4 which served them well until they had their own diesel in 1954/55, there is a bit of confusion here and I do not have my book to hand but the original BMC Diesel was the DM4 and the later 4DM.
Nuffields were an excellent tractor and far ahead of what was available at the time, their problem was they never moved on and my 1968 Nuffield 4/65 still has parts of similar design to the 1946 tractor. They are one of the best gripping tractors I have ever come across, my 4/65 would easily out-pull my friends Ford 4610 of similar horsepower, when ploughing.
I served my apprenticeship on the Nuffield tractor and worked on them until 1963 and the introduction of the Nuffield 4/60 before moving to the opposition Ford dealership.
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Today's Featured Article - An Old-Time Tractor Demonstration - by Kim Pratt. Sam was born in rural Kansas in 1926. His dad was a hard-working farmer and the children worked hard everyday to help ends meet. In the rural area he grew up in, the highlight of the week was Saturday when many people took a break from their work to go to town. It was on one such Saturday in the early 1940's when Sam was 16 years old that he ended up in Dennison, Kansas to watch a demonstration of a new tractor being put on by a local dealer. It was an Allis-Chalmers tractor dealership,
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