Original TO-35 at Wengers in Myerstown, PA
At Wengers of Myerstown, there is TO-35 S/N 157226 in their showroom that has 7/10 of an hour on it. We show it here so that everyone can see what an original TO-35 looked like coming from MHF in mid-year 1955. The serial number is just past halfway in the 1955 model year.
This letter from Rob Fisher was sent to Paul Nelson after a trip that he and Carl Morrison took to see the tractor.
Hi Paul,
Carl Morrison and I took a trip on 2/09/08 to Wengers of Myerstown in PA to see the TO-35 with less than 1 hour running time. These are points of interest that Carl and I found interesting or did not know about an original TO-35.
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Ribbed steering wheel (we had never seen a wheel like this on any Ferguson model).
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Plug wires have no rubber boots on the end that connects to the spark plug.
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Fan blade painted black.
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Nine hole drawbar plated zinc yellow chromate.
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Tractormeter trim ring painted gray like the ones used on TO-30’s (not chrome like all the Ferguson gauges on 35’s, 40’s, 50’s, etc.).
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Taurus tail light has chrome trim ring.
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All throttle linkage from the friction disc to the carburetor was plated zinc yellow chromate.
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Each rear wheel only had two of the special Ferguson carriage bolts, the other four bolts on each wheel were hex heads.
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Bolt that attaches the oil filter to engine block was plated zinc yellow chromate.
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Choke rod plated zinc yellow chromate.
A lot of the items I mentioned can be seen in the pictures. There may be some things you can see in the pictures that I did not mention – you will have to look over them carefully.
With the dust on the tractor it looks like it has just been removed from a time capsule. I was surprised at the condition of the tires; you will probably not see an original set of Goodyear tires in this condition any where. At some point in time someone has touched up the green paint; you can see evidence of this in the photo of the three point hitch area. Overall it was well worth the trip.
Rob Fisher
The Stuck family made a stop in when they were in Lancaster, PA on 12/07/2023 and had this to note.
It was a great to see the Ferguson in original condition. We talked to the current owner and got some history on it. A farmer went to his local Ferguson dealer and purchased the 35 on the lot and it was delivered to the farm that evening. It was parked in the shed and the farmer ended up passing away in his sleep in the night. His wife then covered it with a sheet and left it set for over 70 years. It then came up for auction and was bought by the current owners father who has since passed. Now part of the family collection at Wengers.
Some incredible things that we noted and got photos of was the fabric still on the wiring harness and the original Ferguson battery. This lead acid battery is the only one I have seen in person and has the logo molded into the plastic housing and even the metal buss bars joining the cells. I looked into getting the batteries recreated, but a local company wanted $30,000 to start tooling. Maybe someday this would be possible. With solidified fuel sitting in the tank and carb and fuel lines it would take some work to even attempt to get running again.