Approximately 80 vehicles took part in the annual Dundrod Tractor Run in Northern Ireland. The event took place last Saturday (December 2).
Proceeds from the tractor run will go towards the upkeep of Dundrod Presbyterian Church.
The route followed by the vehicles saw them passing through the villages and townlands making up the Dundrod/Crumlin/Aldergrove area of south Co. Antrim.
Many local farm families and contractors took part in the run. All of the main tractor brands – old and new – featured in the cavalcade of machinery.
Weather conditions were perfect for the event – cold, dry and mist-free.
Participants and spectators were treated to breakfast in Dundrod Church Hall on completion of the run. Dundrod is located 15 miles west of Belfast. The village is adjacent to Northern Ireland’s International Airport.
Tractor runs are very common across rural Northern Ireland in the run-up to Christmas.
Much of this interest can be traced back to the machinery heritage established by the late Harry Ferguson. The name is synonymous with the Massey Ferguson machinery brand.
Ferguson developed the three-point linkage, which still features on so many tractors today.
By mounting the implement, initially ploughs, on the tractor (rather than towing it), and using hydraulics to raise and lower that implement, the Co. Down man revolutionised agriculture.
The three-point linkage grew initially out of the Duplex Hitch, which he had designed in the early 1920s. The draft control principle that he had patented in 1925 involved the provision of two hitch points.
It was with the provision of the third hitch point, that in 1928 he applied for a patent for, which effectively became the three-point linkage.
It went on to become the key design feature of tractors and enabled tractors worldwide to carry a vast array of implements with improved safety and traction.
Approximately 85% of the tractors manufactured today still make use of the three-point linkage principle.
Other interests pursued by Harry Ferguson in the early years of the 20th century include the design and development of airplanes.
He became the first Irishman to fly and the first Irishman to build and fly his own airplane.
He also enjoyed a very strong relationship with Henry Ford, the man responsible for pioneering the mass production of cars in the United States.
