My story is about a little 1951 Harry Ferguson TO-20. We had three farms in my family with two tractors. One was an Allis Chalmers for the heavy work on the largest farm. It was a work horse and went with the farm when my father and his siblings sold it. Somehow my father worked all three farms and held a full time job. The second biggest farm we had was 125 miles away from the other two and it was solely my parents farm. That is where the Ferguson held its own and performed miracles every weekend. Daddy cleared the woods that became beautiful pastures that feed the nine horses and one brama bull that lived there. Small gardens and light upkeep kept the little Fergie busy.
In 1969 my parents moved from Columbia, South Carolina to Beaufort, South Carolina and needed a piece of land to put their two horses on. It was about a year later they bought a parcel and it was deemed “The Farm”. Throughout the years my brother and I grew up helping Daddy work and maintain the three farms. When we were old enough by his standards we would drive the Fergie from the Farm to our house. It was about four miles away and we loved driving it. We would bushhog the pastures and learn to drive a vehicle before we were twelve years old.
He got the Fergie in 1970 for $200 and a cypress stump. It sounds strange to some about the stump. The older man that he bought it from ran a junk yard in Columbia and used the tractor to move cars around. My dad brought the stump to him and hauled the Fergie to Beaufort the next day. So much work to get a 19 year old tractor.
The status of the Fergie didn’t change much over the years. When my father was ready to stop working the Farm in 2002 he split it between my brother and me. My brother lived on his half until he sold it in 2015. There was nothing on my part so we had the Fergie and all the equipment stored on it. My father started going down in his health and was unable to perform hard labor any longer. He wanted me to go and get her and bring her home. I had been retired from the Marine Corps by then and traveled home to move her.
She had been sitting about two years without being cranked. The fuel system was gummy. It took around six cans of starter fluid and fresh gas to get her started. I got her to the trailer and brought her home. Since I wasn’t living there I would make trips home and work to get her back to normal. During this time my father fell and injured himself very badly. He hit a table, broke his ribs and punctured a lung. This started a down hill slide for him. He had been diagnosed with COPD and his accident aggravated it. The tractor sat still during this time but I finally had ample time to get her started. Daddy wanted a huge azalea bush cut down and I decided the Fergie and its bushhog would make quick work of it. He demanded to be outside to watch me drive his tractor. I remember while I was cutting it up looking at him and that was the first time I’d seen him smile since his accident.
His health declined more and more until he passed in 2020. The tractor was always right there in the shed behind their house. I remember one night when I was visiting my mom telling her that I had to get his tractor working again. She told me that she agreed and that it was my tractor now. I took that as the start of a new life for the Fergie and me. Today I am actively restoring her a little bit at a time. One day she will shine better than she ever did while my Dad had her. One day I’ll post a picture on here when it is completed.
Jeffrey Holliday
Jacksonville, North Carolina
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