| The most successful tractor
promotion ever staged in Australia occurred in the late 1940s and was
known as The Ferguson Circus.
HANGING ROCK
The Hume Highway is possibly our most important interstate road corridor.
When driving along it, en-route to a tractor do, it is simply a matter
of setting the cruise control, just a wee bitty over the legal, and
then relaxing into a state of mild hibernation. And that’s
the problem. Motoring along the sweeping multi-lane highway, with a
legal maximum of 110 klicks, is as mentally stimulating as watching
the late night parliamentary broadcast.
I always travel with my survival kit — Margery — and in
order to render these Hume Highway journeys more inspiring, we make
a point of exiting somewhere along the route and doing the tourist thing.
Several weeks ago when on our way to Point Lonsdale, we bid farewell
to the Hume at Broadford and threaded our way via Kilmore through the
Macedon Range in the direction of Bacchus Marsh. Quiet country roads
meandered through the peaceful countryside until eventually we came
to an intersection with a signboard pointing to Hanging Rock.
Everyone knows of the spooky true tale involving a group of picnicking
school girls, who mysteriously disappeared whilst exploring this extinct
volcanic outcrop, more than a century ago. It occurred to us that Hanging
Rock required our inspection.
The rock formation is somewhat unique in the way it is comprised of
towering standing stones with fissures and caves everywhere. We eventually
scrambled to the summit, admittedly almost on our hands and knees and
in a state of near terminal exhaustion. The view over the Macedon Range
was stunning. We absorbed it all then contemplated the disappearance
of the Victorian era school girls. Margery was not amused when I too
disappeared by hiding silently for a while in the depths of one of the
dark fissures.
Eventually we were joined at our lofty lookout by a young school mistress
shepherding a gaggle of noisy juniors, all clutching plastic drink bottles.
I was pleased to note they arrived at the summit in a similar exhausted
state as we oldies.
I considered it my duty to caution the young teacher to keep her flock
in a tight group and to count the children carefully when it was time
to re-enter their bus for the trip home. She looked at me wide eyed
and then, somewhat hysterically I thought, yelled at her charges to
line up for an immediate count — there and then!
What has Hanging Rock got to do with tractors? Not one thing —
except it was on our way to Point Lonsdale and I shall get around to
that presently, but first a brief outline of The Ferguson Circus.
THE FERGUSON CIRCUS
In 1947 the tractor market in Australia was dominated mainly by International
Harvester, Case, Massey Harris and Fordson. British Farm Equipment Co.
(BFE) a division of Standard Cars Ltd., was faced with the daunting
task of introducing the hitherto unknown Ferguson into this stiff competition.
The firm had been specifically structured to distribute the new Ferguson
tractors in NSW and Victoria. There was only the one basic model to
offer, although it was to eventually become available with either petrol,
petrol/kerosene or diesel power.
Ferguson marketing personnel from the UK factory conducted high powered
training courses for the newly recruited local BFE team. It would be
untrue to suggest the training was a form of brain washing. The attributes
of the little grey tractor were numerous, persuasive and patently obvious.
Instructions were given in the usage and application of the broad range
of cleverly designed matching implements. It was explained that a Ferguson
with an appropriate range of implements for individual farmers, became
a system of farming. This was known as The Ferguson System.
BFE decided that the best way of establishing Ferguson tractors in Australia
was to take them to the farmers and demonstrate on their land.
Accordingly, convoys of Ferguson tractors headed forth into the countryside
from the BFE headquarters in Sydney and Melbourne, in order to spread
the Gospel of Harry Ferguson. They usually consisted of seven tractors
each pulling Ferguson trailers loaded with an array of around 20 different
implements. Hundreds of farms were visited and the resulting sales exceeded
all expectations.
The convoy became known as The Ferguson Circus. They also attended
field days and the Ferguson presence at local agricultural shows invariably
dominated these events at the expense of their opposition.
It seemed as if overnight, Ferguson tractors were everywhere. Even large
pastoral holdings and broadacre farms had tasks that could be made easier
by the introduction of The Ferguson System to the property.
Long before quad bikes or even ag bikes came into vogue, sheep and cattle
were being mustered by stockmen on Fergies. Ferguson tractor mounted
saw benches cut posts and firewood well ahead of the popularity of the
chain saw. Countless small arable farms swapped Dobbin or their ageing
Farmall A or Allis Chalmers B for a Ferguson.
Within four years, 16,000 Fergusons had been purchased by Australian
farmers. This represented a four year tractor sales record that remains
unchallenged today for what was basically a single model of tractor.
The Ferguson is the most recognisable tractor profile on the land.
As the years rolled on, Harry Ferguson Ltd. and the Canadian giant Massey
Harris Co, combined in 1953 to ultimately become Massey Ferguson. Subsequent
models, with their Ferguson heritage, continue to be a major player
in the world tractor scene today.
POINT LONSDALE
If you overshot Point Lonsdale you would be on your way to Antarctica.
It is situated at the south west tip of Port Phillip Bay and it was
to this windy place that the Harry Ferguson Club of Australasia Inc.
had invited me to act as one of three tractor judges. The occasion was
the commemoration and re-enactment of the greatest of all tractor promotional
exercises ever staged in Australia — The Ferguson Circus.
A Ferguson muster had been summoned by the club from which seven individual
tractors and trailers would be selected by the judges to form the nucleus
of a Ferguson tractor convoy. Tractors failing to be selected, were
welcome to tag along behind on the long five day journey from Point
Lonsdale to the Murray River town of Echuca.
My fellow judges were Ron Keech, Gunnedah Rural Museum, and a Victorian
tractor identity Steve Cartright. We somehow managed to arrive at an
amicable agreement about things, despite there being only one tractor
that truly conformed to the original circus tractors. In order to select
units we were obliged to turn a blind eye to numerous idiosyncrasies
such as chrome nuts and non original exhaust pipes. There were even
a couple of Cranvel trailers pretending to be genuine Ferguson originals.
But in the world of old tractors these deviations are considered to
be of little consequence. What counts is the fact that the tractors
have been preserved for posterity, their owners have a continuing passionate
amorous regard for them, and the Ferguson Club members are all true
blue characters each deserving Oz of the Year titles for their contribution
to our rural history and heritage.
Along the way to Echuca, The Ferguson Circus was officially welcomed
at each town by local dignitaries. Main street parades had been arranged
complete with police escorts, bus loads of excited children cheered
and waved flags, and nostalgic old timers were observed wiping away
a tear or two as the little grey tractors reminded them of more gentle
times. Additionally, around $8,000 for charity was raised by the club
members.
There were certainly some sore backsides by the time the convoy triumphantly
entered Echuca. However there were no complaints, only large grins from
ear to ear, and it wouldn’t surprise me if, somewhere in that
great paddock in the sky, Harry Ferguson was looking down — also
with a grin from ear to ear.
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