Ploughing is hard work – slicing through a soil’s structure, then lifting the weight of it and turning it over can take a lot of energy, and it was County Commercial Cars that took the lead in converting the necessary engine power to traction.
One answer is to increase the wheel size, as this enlarges the contact patch between tyre and ground, as well as reducing rolling resistance, yet tractor manufacturers were wedded to the idea of 2WD, so there were limits to which this could be taken.
Naturally the next step would be to power both axles and so, in effect, double the grip available, but only if the wheels were of the same size, front and rear, and this approach was pioneered in the 1950s by two brothers, Earnest and Percy Tapp of Fleet in Hampshire.
Upgrading commercials
Initially, the pair set out to build commercial vehicles based on Ford chassis, adding extra axles to the frame to increase the payload, these axles were sometimes driven, but traction on solid roads was not the problem that it is in the field, so most were not.
The company they had created to undertake the conversions, was County Commercial Cars, and it was in those early years that the association with Ford was formed through the supply of kits to Dagenham, enabling Ford to build multi axle machines in house.
After the war, the company produced a run of track laying machines based on the Fordson E27N, 50 of which were purchased by the Ministry of Agriculture for sugar cane duties in foreign climes.
It wasn’t until 1954 that the company produced its first tractor driven by four equal sized wheels, this was known as the County Four Drive and was based on a Fordson Major.
The great peculiarity of this model was that the steering took its cues from the earlier tracklayer and relied on clutches and brakes to change direction, County had extended the drive to the front axle and exchanged the tracks for tyres, but had not worked out how best to steer it.
County turning circle
Steering was an issue that always haunted County Tractors, those large wheels might have offered a good deal more traction, but there was very little room to turn them before they bumped into the tractor’s side, severely limiting the turning circle.
However this drawback did not stop the company going on to develop the County Super 4, which was blessed with a heavy duty front steering axle that not only overcame the problem of tearing up the roads when turning, but balanced the tractor so that more weight was placed forward.
Weight is another great aid to traction, increasing the pressure on the soil creates more friction and it is friction, or grip, that stops wheels spinning, although as we discover more about the ill effect of soil compaction – this is not so often discussed nowadays.
Countys are rarely accused of being lightweight, and they are not – the heavy cast front axle and projecting nose act together to transfer weight towards the front axle giving it a better grip on the soil.
More power from County
With all this traction available, the power from a larger engine could be utilised, and so it wasn’t long before the Super 6 arrived, which had a Ford six cylinder engine at its heart.
At 95hp, it doesn’t sound a lot today, but back in the late 1950s, that was a mighty engine, and it established the brand as the only choice for serious farmers on heavy land, just so long as they could afford one.
As a rough guide, a County would cost twice as much as a two wheel unit of the same power, which put them on too high a shelf for most, yet in the clays of eastern England, or anywhere else where conditions were challenging, the County became recognised as the tool for the job.
Although Countys were as capable of other field operations as standard tractors they gained the reputation of being a ploughman’s tractor and attained a strong following amongst farmers, contractors and tractor fans generally, as being the ultimate workhorse.
4WD becomes standard
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the company kept increasing the power of its models in line with the general rise in tractor horsepower, until it came to the point that the major manufacturer realised that 4WD drive had become a necessity, rather than a novelty.
Machines of 100hp had become quite common and it was recognised that 2WD was just not up to the job of applying that power to the ground if conditions were any thing less than perfect.
This recognition came to head in the late 1970s, when the post-war tractor boom ended abruptly, no longer could dealers stock up with tractors like tins of baked beans, knowing that a customer would be along at some point to buy them.
Fewer but bigger tractors were being demanded, so the emphasis switched to choice and sophistication, which meant providing 4WD as a factory fitted option, County’s days were, unfortunately, numbered.
The company soldiered on until 1983 when it was declared bankrupt. The rights were bought by a dealer from Shropshire, who produced new models based on TW skid units, but added little to a TW’s ability, and there was always that turning circle to contend with.
The enterprise continued on with the brand for another four years until it was sold off once again, and eventually faded from the scene.
