Shout out to MJ/ UK

I got a second chance to look at the Nuffield today and it was
as you said. I have a DB 4600 which is a gasser. They?re
about as common as left handed hockey goalies so you can?t
find much info on them on this side of the pond. I feel like the
Nuffield is the same thing. According to the ser# my guess of
the PM-4 was correct.

Not knowing much about Nuffields I surfed the web. There is some contradiction in info on this side. For instance was the PM-4 production run from ?50-?57 or ?50-?60? Second I can find info that tells me the Series had a PM-3 (row crop), PM-4 (standard), and a DM-4(diesel standard) I find info that indicates that the engine engines were of Morris origin in either TVO or Diesel, but then I find reference to a Perkins option that gave the significance to the ?P? in PM-4. Can you give some clarity? Also found info stating the second generation Morris diesel was far more efficient then the Perkins.

A better picture of the dual exhaust. This is a head scratcher. It appears to be tapped in a lobe that is part of the manifold casting.

Another question is how common or rare would this model be because of the fact that there is no 3pt? We?ve all heard the story of Harry and his 3pt. DB was early to utilize it and Ford was given the design. Harry made a stand by it in the Ferguson and later MF tractors. Nuffield starting after WWII makes sense to have 3pt and most of the pictures I find has it. Would it be possible that being this tractor is over here it could have been a Canadian supplied ?wheat land? and not produced for 3pt? It appears there is no provisions for the rock shaft.

The Nuffield Universal first came out as an M3, three wheel, and the M4 four wheel with the Morris engine developed from the car and truck engine. It was either petrol or petrol/kerosene. They were way ahead of the time with a change from petrol to kerosene (we call it TVO, Tractor Vaporising Oil), by pulling out the choke, (petrol on) when warm, pushing the choke in, (petrol off TVO on). Back in the day The Nuffields only real competitor was the Fordson Major E27N which was very crude, with only three gears against the Nuffields five. On the Major you still had to stop and switch taps to change from petrol to TVO.

The Nuffield was also very fast on the road and had something we called "Super Throttle". There was a stop at maximum engine speed on the throttle lever but the lever could be moved sideways slightly and then pulled back to give more revs if needed.

Hydraulics and PTO were optional extras back then, most farms still used trailed equipment. The hydraulics bolt on the rear casting as a complete unit. That is why there is no position for a cross shaft. Mounted equipment was available for the Ferguson tractor but this was smaller and only worked with the Ferguson system. Fergusons were small tractors and used mainly for light work whereas Nuffields and Majors did the heavy stuff.

By around 1946 Ford were seeing that diesel was the way to go and fitted the Perkins P6 as an option in the Major. Just after WW2 Britain was still having shortages and rationing so Ford and Nuffield were restricted on tractor development, they used what engines were available. Because, unlike the Major, the Nuffield had a fixed chassis it was easier for them to fit the Perkins P4 which served them well until they had their own diesel in 1954/55, there is a bit of confusion here and I do not have my book to hand but the original BMC Diesel was the DM4 and the later 4DM.

Nuffields were an excellent tractor and far ahead of what was available at the time, their problem was they never moved on and my 1968 Nuffield 4/65 still has parts of similar design to the 1946 tractor. They are one of the best gripping tractors I have ever come across, my 4/65 would easily out-pull my friends Ford 4610 of similar horsepower, when ploughing.

I served my apprenticeship on the Nuffield tractor and worked on them until 1963 and the introduction of the Nuffield 4/60 before moving to the opposition Ford dealership.

Thanks Majorman. That clarifies several things. I?ve read and was surprised by the short life span of the Nuffield. I believe that the government was looking for someone to strengthen the market or options on the market in post-war Britain. I don?t recall if it was known as BMC or just Morris at the time, but had a facility available due to consolidation in their auto manufacturing. Nuffield was created and produced a solid hit of a tractor right out the gate. The Nuffield name was fairly short lived and fell victim to consolidation with others to form Leyland. What manufactures were pulled together to form Leyland?

BMC was British Motor Corporation which was made up of Austin, Morris, Rover, Wolseley and Riley who all made cars. Tractors were Nuffields of course. Trucks and vans were Austin and Morris. The cars were standardised with the names denoting different trim and option levels depending on the name. Top car of the ranges wasd the Austin Princess 4 litre Rolls Royce which was an top of the range Austin Princess with a 4 litre Rolls Royce engine. Land Rover and Jaguar were also in there for a time but they got sold off to Ford then BMW and finally to Tata the Indian steel makers.

The whole lot were nationalised and the cars they produced rusted to bits and there was little or no development, the tractor division was starved of money and its profits ploughed into the ailing car division. Tractor production was then moved to Bathgate in Scotland, to a new truck and tractor factory with a new workforce. The warranty claims went through the roof as the workforce were not as skilled as the Ward End ones and tractor quality dropped off.

The losses carried on and eventually the whole lot was sold to the Leyland Truck company and reformed as British Leyland but again no development and the losses haemorrhaged taking down British Leyland. All was not helped by a workforce that went on strike at the drop of a hat.

The tractor division was sold off to Charles Nicholson who owned Marshall and for a time, they produced an excellent tractor. They also developed a range of higher horsepower versions, the 100 Series, but the market for tractors had gone and we had too many larger manufacturers and foreign companies selling into the British market. Marshalls were sold to a couple of different companies and limped on for a few years selling badge engineered Austrian Steyr and Turkish built smaller models.

This is a very rough idea on what went on, my friend MJ will put me right on any aspects I missed.

Brian