Loader Id

[Mark1]

Hi
Can anyone identify the make off loader fitted to this Power Major?
Thanks

Fordson with loader by markhdm4, on Flickr

[Brian]

Hi Mark, where in the world are you? There were many loaders like that world wide.

it could be a MIL Loader, Midland Industries.

[Mark1]

Hi Brian
I am near Stratford on Avon,UK.It could be a MIL but I have never seen one like this.
There is a small plate on the bucket that you can just see in the picture but it is totally unreadable.
Mark

[Brian]

The main loader makers were MIL and Steelfab who made loaders for all the tractor makers to "badge engineer". There were a few others like H.Cameron Gardener and Farmhand but these a not so common on tractors of the era.

Looking at it again, it has the look of a JCB about it and that immediately made me think of a Steelfab Industrial Loader that was sold under Steelfab's own name for more heavy duty operations. They also built a digger for the back that turned a basic Major into a light duty unit like the JCB.

[Mark1]

Thanks for the info Brian. I had not heard of Cameron Gardner or farmhand.
I will have to see what I can find out about those companies
Mark

[Mark1]

Hi
I think I have managed to answer my own question. The loader was originally painted yellow, I then managed to get a few letters of the plate on the bucket
and have come to the conclusion that it was made by a company called Grays of Fetterangus.
On searching the internet I have only manage to find on other very similar loader.

Roadless Fordson Major Industrial? by K Garrett, on Flickr

[blackbob]

New member here rummaging through old threads

Yes I agree, that is a Grays loader, as a company they latterly joined with Fraser trailers as part of a bigger group - then all went bust together, maybe 12 years ago I went to the auction which was held at the Fraser factory, there were rows of Grays shear-grabs and rollers, along with dozens of new trailer axles and wheels, and several part-complete trailers and muck-spreaders. A sad occasion.

I have somewhere an advert for the Grays 'Twawye' loader ('wye' is the Scottish pronunciation of 'way', so 'two-way' - it could be mounted to the front of the tractor as normal, or the boom could be fitted to the brackets the other way round so it was at the back of the tractor, for better wheel-grip in poor conditions. I don't think it caught on, I've certainly never seen one..

[jdaley]

I am after a set of drawings to make my own loader in Australia. Are there any about please?

[shepp]

Yes, this is a Grays loader probably made around the mid 1960's to early 1970's.


The "Twawye" loader mentioned was marketed by Grays as "The revolutionary (!) Twawye Loader".
We had a new one fitted to one of our Ferguson tractors in 1961 for use in low livestock buildings. It was one of the first box section jib models, prior to this they were tubular. In between placing the order and delivery of the loader the box section jib was introduced and the price had gone up from £89 . 10s to £94 . 10s, and I remember my uncle arguing that the deal had been done on the old price basis! I think he had his way, the final price was £89 . 10s plus £4 . 15s for heavy duty rams and £8 . 00s for a dirt plate. I still have the sales brochure and price list with the prices worked out in pencil on the brochure. We did use the loader in the reverse position and the tractor could certainly grip with the weight on the back end, but keeping the front end down was a different matter!
At that time (1961) Grays made spinner broadcasters, buckrakes, bulldozing blades, a clutch release for Ferguson and Dexta tractors, a fertilizer distributor, a ditch dredger, field gates, hammermills, haysweeps, hydraulic loaders, land rollers, a lift-lock for Ferguson tractors, a potato digger/spinner, saw benches, snow ploughs, top links, transport boxes, hay-cock transporters, pallet forks for loaders, a dykeside ploughing attachment, and a bale carrier.

[blackbob]

Fascinating... and in an old magazine from ebay, I found this ad:

[jdaley]

a clutch release for Ferguson and Dexta tractors

What are these units please?

[shepp]

Clutch releases were a special kind of spring loaded telescoping top link that were linked to the clutch pedal via a Bowden cable. If an implement, such as a plough, struck an obstacle under ground then the sudden thrust to compress the top link moved the cable to disengage the clutch, thus preventing damage to the implement. Fordson made one for the Major and Power Major tractors ( see respective sales brochures) but not for the Dexta. Ferguson did not make one of their own for their tractors, but David Brown did have their own factory made clutch release.