Ryedale Folk Museum

Today, there was much activity in the museum workshop, especially on the old MF 135. John Paul was fitting a new speedo on this tractor as the old one had been broken for ages. I gave him a hand, but unfortunately we discovered the cable had broken between the speedo and gearbox, so we ordered a new cable as well. We also shifted a bit of machinery around with the view to a bit of restoration of tractors and implements to their former glory. Speedo with 0 hours on the clock Volunteers John Paul & John Nichol One Ruston & Hornsby Seed Drill  I found this documentary on You Tube about Massey Ferguson production in Canada, the U.S and Britain. They don't make em like they used to eh? Jonathan S

There was also much tradition lost as time progressed and the horse replaced. In areas including Yorkshire, ploughing did not begin until Plough Monday [1] . This was the first Monday following the twelfth day after Christmas. Often, the farmworkers would parade through the village streets and dance, not dissimilar to Morris Dancing today [2] . Also widespread in Yorkshire, Northamptonshire, Derbyshire and other central areas was the Plough Play. The performers would pull a brightly decorated plough through the village streets and ask to enter the village houses. If the performers were allowed in they performed their play and were given food and drink. If the householder refused to give them entry, they would plough the ground in front of their property [3] . This tradition, like that of the hiring fair has fallen into disuse with time and progress [4] . Three manufacturers of tractor emerged who could supply farmers with reliable, cheap tractors – David Brown, Fordson and Ferguson. Th...

Here is our latest blog about the work that is carried out by dedicated staff and volunteers at Ryedale Folk Museum. At the moment there are several projects going on, one of which is restoring a great model village - kindly donated from Harlow Carr Gardens, Harrogate. Another is the building of a new shed to help preserve the vintage agricultural machinery and implements. Kevin, the Museum Manager is in this video parking one of the museum tractors. This M.F 135 was restored to its former glory at the museum, after spending many years as a scaper tractor on a dairy farm.

The horse, a sight common on most farms was phased out on most by 1958 when there were less than one hundred thousand working horses left on farms in Great Britain by 1958 [1] . The horse, the source of power on most farms was indispensable, even when steam power arrived to power labour saving machines such as the threshing machine. How else could the land be ploughed, harrowed, rolled, sown and the crop harvested? Horses were used in haytime and all other aspects of heavy work. Tractors, the modern replacement for the horse, once unreliable and expensive became cheap and more reliable as time progressed. Manufacturers such as Massey-Ferguson, Ford and David Brown all made cheap tractors that were not just used for pulling trailed implements. The Little Grey Fergie was the first mass produced tractor equipped with a Power Take Off (PTO) used to implements such as power balers and muckspreaders. The Grey Ferguson was also attired with a hydraulic three point linkage and a front loader c...