70th anniversary of first Britishbuilt tractors

UK’s tractor industry went on to lead the world in innovation and enterprise

The first of thousands of British-built International tractors was driven out of the Doncaster factory 70 years ago this month by then Minister of Agriculture, Tom Williams.

In the 20 years that followed the Second World War, Britain’s tractor industry led the world in innovation and enterprise. UK concerns such as Marshall, David Brown, Ferguson and Nuffield satisfied the home market and exported heavily to help bring currency into a cash-strapped economy.

The Americans were also producing tractors on this side of the Atlantic. Ford was building cars, commercials and tractors at their massive Dagenham plant in Essex, and Massey Harris, Allis Chalmers and International Harvester (IH) opened UK factories to get their slice of sales in the mechanisation of farming in war-torn Britain and Europe.

Arthur Neale, the boss of IH GB, purchased a factory in the railway town of Doncaster in 1938 with an eye on manufacturing products in Britain.

However, the beginning of the war meant the factory was taken over for war work. Later the factory went back to IH which began to assemble an array of implements including green crop loaders and trailing plough. Grain drills, balers and muck spreaders were later added to the line.

Products from the firm had long been popular here, so when the idea of Britishbuilt tractors arose, whole assemblies were imported from the US for final assembly at the Wheatley Hall factory in “Donny”. This helped get around the various import restrictions and gave the workforce something to work on and the sales team a British tractor.

For the first three years these tractors only differed from the American-built versions of the Farmall M by having the steering arrangement placed behind the front axle, a swinging drawbar and a hydraulic lift as an option.

By 1952 IH were able to assemble the tractor using parts manufactured in the factory or sourced from British component suppliers and farmers here were turning to diesel. IH were able to offer their version at the same time as many others in the market.

The British IH Gold tractor was produced to mark the 1,000th tractor to leave Doncaster in July 1953. Often called the Coronation Gold tractor to mark the Queen’s coronation a month earlier, it is unclear just how many IH turned out in this unpopular colour – probably no more than 50.

The engine was also updated in 1953, giving the new four-cylinder diesel engine tremendous lugging power. It became the basis of subsequent models which replaced the BM, such as the BWD 6, the 450, the 614 and the 634.

The factory at Doncaster has sadly gone, like so many British tractor plants – but the tractors themselves live on throughout the land.

One of many International Ms built at Doncaster that are now in preservation and go on show at vintage events.

The British IH Gold tractor marked the 1,000th tractor to leave Doncaster in July 1953.