Wednesday Tractor Extra

[Majorman]

Belgium built Ford Six cylinder Ford.

Back in the 1970's Ford were very relucent to build a tractor with a six cylinder engine to compete with the John Deere models. European farmers wanted a high PTO horsepower, (for the time) tractor to pull forage harvesters. A Belgium Ford dealer went into business, modifying tractors by adding a six cylinder industrial engine, using a sump that they had specially made, and fitting side channels to take the load from the un-stressed blocks. These proved very popular and the large English Ford dealer, Ernest Doe, also came out with a similar tractor. Ford shut them down, threatening to take away their main dealership. A few years later, the late David Pearson, who was, by then, part of the upper management team, convinced a reluctant Ford head office to build a six cylinder version. This eventually became the best selling Ford 7810.
Ford Modification

 

[Bob Bancroft]

Looks like it must have originated as an automotive/truck engine, with that downward pointing exhaust manifold.

 

[Majorman]

That one is a Ford Industrial, we know them as the 2700 series. 2701, 2711 = Four cylinder, the engine, in my opinion that should have gone in the Ford 5000, 2703, 2713, around 90 hp six cylinder, 2704, 2714, 100 to around 120 hp and the 2715T which was a turbo-ed version. That range of engines went in County, Roadless, MuirHill, Claas and New Holland combines and many other industrial applications. It was a bit of a sore point with us that officially, we were not supposed to service them and had to buy all our spares from a Ford Industrial Dealer, not direct from Ford, as we did with all tractor, car and truck parts.

 

[Bob Bancroft]

I went to New Holland service school, in New Holland PA in the early 70's, (not terribly far from here) They were heavily promoting their combines, which were red at that time. (Clayson/Belgium/etc) (We had several out, with gas engines) They had some there with a sweet sounding diesel engine. I think they called it a Dorset diesel.

 

[Majorman]

They would be the ones.

One of the best sounding diesels I came into contact with was the Penta, a Swedish engine, in the Viking combines that came into the country. Penta made large diesels for boats.

 

[SkipperII]

We had Volvo/Penta diesels in two of our work boats on the hydro electric project, they were excellent, reliable units, except for the starters, they had a high failure rate. I started rebuilding them myself, even though I wasn't supposed to, and it seemed to improve.

 

[ss55]

I think Ford was selling six cylinder tractors in the US at that same time, the 8000 and turbocharged 9000. In the early 1970s the US farm economy was very strong, manufacturers could sell every tractor they could produce at near list price. Maybe Ford did not have the manufacturing capacity to supply larger tractors to both Europe and the US?

https://www.tractordata.com/farm-tractors/000/2/7/279-ford-8000.html

https://www.tractordata.com/farm-tractors/000/2/8/282-ford-9000.html

 

[Majorman]

Ford were building the 8000 and 9000 but they were too big and heavy for what was needed. The 7600 was the size wanted but with a bit more power for PTO work.