New toy

[essexpete]

Very tidy original looking 1200.

[hair bear]

Do I need another project? No, not really, but back last summer while visiting an old college aquaitance, a throwaway comment of "I could do with a trailer like that...", resulted in me five minutes later owning it. 8+ months later, (last weekend) I went and rescued (dragged it out of the undergrowth which had been it's home for some years) it.
I think it was a Ferguson 7-17 with 12 stud hubs and a steel floored body. Tyres were shot, the wooden dropsides suspiciously flexible, and the tipping pipe crackles when you bend it. Apart from that, it's mint.

[Jeremy Rowland]

Rob, you can't have too many projects.

Jeremy

[hair bear]

Hmm... tried that one on the management and just got 'the look'.

[essexpete]

12 stud? That's a lot of studs!
I wonder if it was built by a trailer manufacturer for Ferguson. The later MF were made by Weeks and then (I think) Marston.

[hair bear]

Tell me about it, I've just had the tyres replaced. 24 to be precise - 26 if you include the two holding the spare. Had 3 part worns fitted at £30 a time, nearly doubled my total investment!
To correct a previous post, this is likely to be a pre '62 717 type 2, the 17-7 that replaced it had 5 stud hubs. I was under the impression they were mostly all Weeks, the later ones having it stamped into the headboard cross member despite being red and badged MF.
The smaller 30cwt trailer was I believe a rebadged Wheatly.

[essexpete]

We still have an old 3 ton Wheatley that Dad bought in farm sale for 150 about 45 years ago. It was knackered and I said so. We still have that trailer, it carted loads for us until a knackered 10 to Pettit arrived from Cambs machinery sale. Is has had numerous mods to the body over the years, including a mod to extend for bale cart. It must be late 50s or early 60s as originally it was Fordson blue with skinny orange 5 stud wheels. Made a difference swapping to wider 10.5 15.3 wheels and tyres.

[hair bear]

The trailer subject is a right can of worms. We had a 'fergie' trailer in the late 70's. Never questioned it's heritage, it arrived rusty, was painted grey and used with a Fergie - end of.
Now, with internet searches, it appears there were many versions of the fergie trailer before the MF20 (still Weeks), by 1963 they were on the mk3 I think. The Wheatley trailer was available in different colours inluding Fordson, Taskers trailers could be in Fordson colours, or in IHC red to match the B250. Petite also had a version. Without them all parked side by side you'd be hard pushed to tell the difference. Taskers also made a 10x6 or thereabouts four wheel pole frame trailer and advertised it as suitable for Fordson.
Thankfully they all decided to use a similar drawbar rather than the 'geometrical acid trip' that was the first incarnation fergie trailer hitch.

[essexpete]

Not seen that type of hitch, looks as though someone was overthinking!

[hair bear]

As I understand it, this was Mr. Ferguson's own doing, the idea being to get some trailer weight onto the top knuckle pin 'ferguson system style'. A conversion kit for a normal drawbar was made available so very few survive. Don't know why it didn't catch on...