Big Ford returned to former glory

The Ford TW-25 was first introduced in 1983 and production ran till 1990. The specifications of this model make for impressive reading for its time, with 160hp on tap from day one. This power came from a 6.6-litre six-pot power plant. Weighing in when fully ballasted at a hefty 8.1t, it was a monster at the time.

In mid-1980s Ireland, tractors of this size, producing this sort of power were only seen on the biggest of tillage farms. Nowadays, these tractors have a massive following on the classic scene. This one belongs to Joseph Fennelly from Castledermot, Co Kildare, who is also the proud owner of a set of steam ploughing engines. This 1988 TW-25 series 2 was sourced for Joseph by local tractor restoration expert Brian Corcoran. As Irish TWs are so rare, this tractor was found in France and brought to Brian’s workshop in Kildare for a full nut-and-bolt rebuild, with the intention of keeping and using all the tractor’s original parts. Brian and his father have been restoring Fordson and Ford tractors for the last 30-plus years and are very well regarded among the classic tractor fraternity.

The first step of the process was a complete strip down of the tractor to its bare chassis. Brian was amazed how much clay and dirt was lodged under the cab. This all needed to be removed to get a look at what was needed to get the chassis and rear end tidied and painted. The chassis was fully stripped of all pipe work and brackets. It was then shot-blasted and painted.

All the panels from the nose of the TW were removed and checked over for any rot which may have damaged them over the years of service. Once any repairs, of which there were very few, were undertaken, the panels were shot-blasted back to bare metal and painted on site back to their original Ford blue.

Once the cab was removed, all the glass and interior trim was removed and put away until later. The cab was inspected to see if any welding or other repair work was required before the blasting and painting began. There were some small areas where rust had taken its toll on the cab. Once these were repaired, the cab was returned to its original colour and the original glass and interior were put back in.

It is believed the seat in the tractor was the original seat that came fitted to it when it left the factory in Belgium in 1988. Brian said extra care was taken to make sure all the original colour scheme was matched, down to the nuts and bolts Every part, no matter how small, was painted away from the assembled tractor, removing any chance of over-spray.

Originally on the TW-25, the mechanism for the height and draft controls under the cab was all manufactured using gold-coloured pieces. Over the years, these had lost their shine and could not be salvaged for the restoration. New gold-coloured pieces had to be sourced in order the keep it as close to original as possible.

The wheels on the tractor were in good shape, but it was decided that a set of chunky 650s was required for the look that the customer was after. In order to make them accommodate the matching front wheels, the front rims needed to be widened. Once this was done, both front and back wheels were shot-blasted, painted their original bright white colour and fitted with new BKT tyres.

Once the major structural and mechanical pieces were reassembled, all of the decals and plates which had been removed at the beginning were replaced with exacting precision.

The tractor was handed over to its owner in time for the May bank holiday 2016.

This was after it had been at Brian’s for about six months. Brian reckoned it involved about three months’ solid work to get the tractor to the condition it is in today.