A Great War Survivor

It is not often that you get to see rare old working farm equipment. Ian Linch invited me to see the restored Fordson Model F that he and his wife purchased some 18 months ago, writes Gary Hawkins. Along with me, Karen Wheeler whose family had stored the tractor previously was invited to see Henry the Model F make a grand entrance into Ian’s yard, running as sweetly as it had when new some 99 years ago.

First, I put some questions to Ian Linch. What can you tell us about the history of the 1918 Fordson Model F?

It is one of the 6,000 commissioned by the Ministry of Munitions, otherwise known as MOM. The tractors were imported from America at the end of World War One to help revive British farming and to replace many of the horses that were commissioned, used and died in that same war.

I know this particular tractor was one of the first 2,000 to come to Britain because the American date (27/2/1918) is cast on the engine block, and also the serial number (2798) is stamped on the engine. The tractor started its life on Romney Marsh on a farm owned by a Mr Wilfred Knott. It was Mr Knott who kept a diary on the tractor from the first day it arrived on his farm and aptly called it Henry.

It is believed that Mr Knott either moved to Hawkhurst, Kent, or sold the tractor to a farmer who neighboured Karen Wheeler’s parents’ farm in Hawkhurst. Either way, Henry ended up on a farm in Hawkhurst, where he spent about 25 – 30 years.

When the owner died, a lot of the machinery was sold and that’s when Karen Wheeler’s parents bought Henry. Karen’s mother (a keen ploughwoman) also had a love of vintage tractors and Henry stood dormant for several years among several other tractors in the corner of her barn, up until I purchased him from Karen in 2015.

When I first saw the tractor sitting there with its original fuel tank, manifold and carburettor by its side, I just got a very strong feeling of its need to be restored and brought back to life. I recognised that feeling from previous tractors that called to be rescued.