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Draft control arm ford 80009/21/2023 Thankfully, the overall cosmetic condition of the Dexta, once brushed off, wasn’t too bad, but there was plenty of work to be done mechanically.ġ0 years’ storage had allowed mice to set up home in the electrics. This is interesting, as I can see from the log book that the pump was serviced and overhauled three times, including being replaced at one point. The thing I always remembered was that the tractor always hunted on tickover. I know from the log book that the tractor was regularly serviced up until about 1981, when it took more of a subs bench role, with spraying as its main task. I was told by Ian French that the tractor had done more than 10,000 hours in his estimation, with the hour meter broken at around 8,000 hours. Sadly, Mr French died more than three years ago, and his farm is now in the hands of new owners.Īs the Dexta was to be sold after Mr French’s death, the family allowed me to take ownership of the tractor, which was very generous, and so I set myself the task of getting the tractor up and running, while leaving it looking as original as possible. Mr French retired the tractor to the barn, with supposedly a noisy knock on the engine, and that is where it stayed. The 144cu in, three-cylinder engine was dismantled and overhauled. The success of the Ferguson System proved that there was a place for a smaller tractor and so, in November 1957, the Dexta was launched to the delight of many farmers. While I felt quite at home driving them, it was always a bit sweaty operating a Ford 4000 – with no power steering and pedals that my skinny legs couldn’t operate with any finesse!Īlthough Ford had chosen to mass-produce a single model, the Major, in a bid to keep costs down, it was quite clear that not everyone, including me, needed or liked large tractors. My reversing skills were honed with this tractor and a trailer before I was let loose on one of the two Ford 4000s owned by the French family. I loved this little tractor, as it was much smaller and lighter to operate than some of the others on the farm. At the age of seven I was lucky enough to start my tractor-driving career, when Mr French, the farmer near my home, taught me all of the basics on his 1959 Fordson Dexta, while we loaded potatoes after picking them during school half-term. W hen I was at school all I ever wanted to be was a tractor driver. Gary Hawkins with an old friend the 1959 Fordson Dexta he used to work in the 1970s.
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