ATJ4161 SEAL. Nuffield Steering Box Seal. Fitted to: Nuffield Universal 4 (4DM) from serial number 10388 onwards; Nuffield Universal 3 (3DL) Nuffield 342, 460, 10/42, 10/60.

History of the Nuffield Tractor - Part One
The Early Years 1946-1951
by Anthony West

The Nuffield tractor story started in early 1945. The British government stillreeling from the effects of the war on the economy, approached the Nuffieldorganization to see if they would design and build an 'ALL NEW' British builtwheeled tractor, suitable for both British and world farming.The offer was placed just at the right time, since Morris-Motors of Birminghamwere carrying out a policy of centralization, and the Wolsley car productionhad been moved to Cowley in Oxfordshire-thereby leaving factory space at theBirmingham plant vacant.

An assessment of the plant was made and the site was deemed siutable fortractor production. The Nuffield team accepted the challenge and arrangementsbegan, starting with the recruitment of Dr. H.E. Merritt and Mr. Claude Culpin,two people who would be instrumental in the designing and testing of the'NUFFIELD UNIVERSAL' tractor.

By May 1946, the prototype Nuffield-Universal tractor was on test, and duringthe following three months, another twelve prototype tractors were made andtested in the U.K and abroad. The tractors were shown to a selected audienceat a demonstration at Pershore Wore in late 1946.

The tractor itself was now thought to be ready for production. All therefinements had been completed and teething troubles overcome, howeverproduction was held up due to the steel shortages and full production would bedelayed for over a year.

By November 1948, the steel situation changed and sufficient stock could beobtained on a regular basis to begin production. The New tractors were firstseen at the 'Smithfield show' in London in December that year and were put onthe market in utility and rowcrop versions.

The M3 or rowcrop was priced at £ 487 and the M4 utility at £ 495. That pricewas for the basic tractor only, Hydraulics three point lift and P.T.O cost anextra £60. A belt pully was £12 and electric lights and horn £9.

Initially all the Nuffield tractors produced were were allocated to the U.Kwith a view to assisting in the increase of crop production to counter thefood shortage. After this though from 1949, Nuffield began the exportation ofthe Universal by a subsidiary company belonging to Morris-Motors called'Nuffield exports Ltd' (initially exports were limited to 5 countries, butlater became world wide.)

The Universal itself, was powered by a Morris Commercial, 4 cylinder side valveT.V.O engine, type E.T.A, which produced 38 horse power at 2,000 rpm. The Hydraulic power-lift was well thought out, and remained basically thesame for over 20 years, apart from occasional improvements. It is operated bytwo seperate levers, providing 1 lever for internal hydraulics and one forexternal tappings (such as front end loaders and tipping trailers) or bothlevers could be used for one double acting external ram. The maximum pressureof the hydraulic system was 1,250 lbs/sq.in, the maximum lifting capacity atthe draught link ends was 2,770 lbs.

The Nuffield shared a few obvious similarities to it's Americancounterparts, and these were purposely made. They were : the overallappearence was quite similar to the Fordson and the color was 'poppyorange', like Allis Chalmers. This was done to instill confidence in thefarming community that had come to accept for granted the reliability of theAmerican counterparts, and to improve the overall chances of sales both hereand abroad.

The N-U M.3 and M4 had a five speed gearbox and speeds ranged from 0.91 mphto 17.30 mph.The clutch was a Borg and Beck single dry plate type II AB-G.The full production tractors differed slightly to that of the prototype, themain difference being the hydraulic lift, P.T.O and styling. It was alsoslightly larger, but apart from that they remained the same.

The Smithfield show of 1950 saw a choice of three engines on offer,a T.V.O(using the E.T.A engine-later replaced by the E.T.C) a PETROL engine, and aPerkins P4 (T.A) diesel,which developed 38 h.p at 2,000 rpm ( the P4 wasreplaced in 1954 by a B.M.C Diesel) The latter being by far more economical torun and by far the most popular. Plus the ever increasing availability of thischeap fuel was to sound the death bell for V.O powered tractors.This model of universal was known as the DM4, it retailed for the cost of £667whilst the row crop DM3 was only £10 cheaper.

Serial No's are as follows (stamped on the offside main frame)

T.V.O : M/3M/4 N.T 501 to N.T 15508
PETROL: PM3/PM4 N.T 75001 to N.T 78653
DIESEL: DM3/DM4 N.T D.E 50001 to N.T 57545

Unlike other Tractor manufacturers, such as Ferguson, International Harvester,etc. who made implements of their own, The Nuffield Organisation decided NOTto manufacture implements themselves but to select implements alreadymanufactured that were best suited to the Nuffield-Universal and then approvethem for use with the tractor.

Nuffield Mechanizations set up departments to test and evaluate the implementsthat were sent for approval by manufacturers. Lists of 'approved Nuffield'implements were available only from the manufacturer and only approved whenthe evaluation team felt that they would not damage the tractor when mountedand operating.

In total the Nuffield list had 100 approved implements and even assistedmanufacturers in their research and testing of new ones, introduced for thenew range of tractor in 1950 ( to fill the gap in the engine range).Since Nuffield's did not have a diesel tractor engine in production theydecided to use the Perkins P4 ( which was already proven in other makes oftractor) until such time that they could produce their own. It is interestingto note that when the new BMC deisel engine was introduced to replace the P4in 1954, sales on the U.K home market were 70 per cent Diesel and 30 per centTVO.

By 1955 the sales were 95 per cent Diesel and 5 per cent TVO. By 1951 theservice hour meter and the hand brake were standard. The tractor came with asix months warranty.Replacement parts and prices for the Perkins 'P4' (T.A) Diesel engine were asfollows: engine £120:00, Crankshaft:£6, Cylinder head:£8, Water pump:£ 2,7sh, injector15 shillings!! oh to be able to buy such rarities at that price today!!

The second part of this history will cover from 1951-1960 and overview theupgraded 'ETC TVO engine and roadless models.

Software Serial Numbers

Specifications

Free Software Serial Numbers

Powertrain

Nuffield 4dm Serial Numbers

Singer Sewing Machine Serial Numbers

Paint Codes

Serial Numbers Microsoft