The Classic Machinery Network

I took this pic. at The Peter Fordham sale about four years back.


Four years on at Tractor World I came across the same tractor and took these pics.
I can only describe the restoration by Neville Websdale the current owner as "BRILLIANT"


The David Brown DB4 was developed for The War effort circa 1942. It is said that only 110 were made though that figure is not cast in stone.
They were first used in The North Africa Campaign and 50 or so were used in Normandy when the beach heads were established in 1944.
The chosen colour should be no surprise as most entered army service.
The last DB4 was produced on 12th Jan 1949.
The DB4 was a faithful copy of the Cat. D4, (look at the running gear), except that it was powered by a 38.5 hp. Dorman Ricardo DW4 diesel engine.
I'm told it was held held together by BSW and BSF bolts, not the SAE bolts used by Cat. I'm pretty sure the engine was but someone will correct me if that's not true.

Fred

Nice one Fred you are quite correct he has made a smashing job of restoring it a very rare beast indeed.

Jeremy

What a beautiful restoration. We have a couple of David Brown tractors and everything is Whitworth from front to back. I find it odd that they didn't use the D.B. engine as they have both 4 and 6 cylinders engines available, the latter used in the DB50

There was an article about the restoration in one of the mags, possibly CPM, a while back. I believe that it said that the original Dorman engine was worn out and they managed to source a replacement from a boatyard. Seem to remember that it was suggested coupled to a plough it would out-pull a D4.

EDIT It was CPM, April 2018, six-page article. The replacement engine came from an engine dealer's yard, not a boatyard!!

cobbadog wrote:What a beautiful restoration. We have a couple of David Brown tractors and everything is Whitworth from front to back. I find it odd that they didn't use the D.B. engine as they have both 4 and 6 cylinders engines available, the latter used in the DB50

Hi,
D B didnt use their own diesel in the DB4 because they didn't have one to use in the 1940s.
The first David Brown diesel was introduced for the Cropmaster tractor in1950.
Fred