Nuffield Three a chip off old block

It seems so simple – to create a smaller tractor engine you cut off the fourth cylinder to reduce the power.

This is what happened with the Nuffield Universal Three in 1957. The cylinder blocks were cast separately, but there was commonality of internal components to keep production costs low and serviceability simple.

Nuffield, like Fordson, had offered larger tractors such as the four-cylindered Universal and the Fordson Major. However the sales departments of both these concerns, and that of David Brown and International, had been pushing for a smaller tractor to compete with the Ferguson T20 and 35 tractors which had taken huge chunks of the market.

“Its larger size made it safer and more able on sloping ground”

All four were working on new tractors and Nuffield launched the Universal Three with its three cylinder diesel engine in August 1957.

The Universal Three was rated at 37 horsepower and while definitely a smaller tractor in horsepower terms the same could not be said about its dimensions – it was still larger than its main competitors.

This caused it to sell well in hilly areas where its larger size made it safer and more able on sloping ground. It also had the benefit of being able to use many implements used on the larger Universal Four.

At a price of £555 for the basic model it was a decent seller but sales were often at the expense of the Universal Four and ultimately it didn’t impact much on sales of Fergusons and the new Fordson Dexta.

The Universal Three was built until 1961 when it was superseded by the equal sized and styled 3/42 model. More than 7,500 models were built.