David Brown and Sons

David Brown and Sons of Swan Lane, Lockwood, Huddersfield is a British engineering company, principally engaged in the manufacture of gears and gearboxes.

• Founded in 1860 as a general manufacturing company

• By 1873 David Brown had focused on gear systems.

• 1911 Maker of machine tools like bevel-gear generators (David Brown and Sons)

• 1913 April. Advert for Worm Gear. Listed as David Brown and Sons

• 1917 Advert for Double Helical Gears and Carburiser. (David Brown and Sons of Park Works, Lockwood, Huddersfield)

• 1919 Advert for Double Helical Gears and Carburiser. (David Brown and Sons of Park Works, Lockwood, Huddersfield)

• 1920 September. Exhibited at the Machine Tool and Engineering Exhibition at Olympia with a worm miller, worm grinder and a worm wheel generator. (David Brown and Sons)

• 1945 Advert for precision spur and helical gear hobs. (David Brown and Son)

• In 1947, the company acquired Aston Martin and in 1948, Lagonda. The David Brown investment led to the DB series of Aston Martins.

• 1951 Advert. Gears. (David brown and Sons)

• 1968 Largest gear hobbing machine by David Brown gear Industries

• 1972 Both car companies were sold in 1972 to Company Developments Limited Aston Martin then in financial trouble for a nominal £100.

• In 1990, the family disposed of its stake to its management who floated the group as a public company in 1993. David Brown was acquired by Textron Inc. in October 1998.

• The company, trading as David Brown Engineering Ltd, headquartered in Huddersfield, is now a leading supplier of heavy transmission systems for industrial, defence and marine applications.

Tractors

David Brown were one of the greats in tractor production, with a major manufacturing plant at Meltham Mills, Meltham West Yorkshire England. Breaking new ground where others were only to follow later, but being a pioneering company ultimately lead to their downfall.

• David Brown joined with Harry Ferguson to produce the Ferguson Brown Tractor. The tractor was built at Park Gear Works, Huddersfield initially and later at the Meltham Mills factory.

• The tractor was powered by a four-cylinder engine with the first 500 having a Coventry Climax Type E engine and the other 1350 having a 2010 cc David Brown engine.

• The Ferguson-Brown tractor sold well but the partnership between David Brown and Harry Ferguson came under pressure as Brown felt that some small alterations could improve the tractor.

• The Ferguson-Brown tractor was improved to become the world's first production tractor featuring a hydraulic lift and converging three-point linkage.

• Following the production of 1350 of these updated models David Brown and Harry Ferguson parted and David Brown went on to produce a new model in September 1939. This model was the VAK1 and was an immediate success.

• The VAK1 was elegant in its style and used a four-cylinder engine with four forward and one reverse gear. It had a patented depth wheel system.

• As well as being used as farm machinery many of the VAK1s were used in World War II as aircraft tugs and crawlers.

• Production of the tractors ceased for a while during the war and it wasn't until 1945 that the VAC1A was produced. This updated version featured an improved engine lubrication system and a more precise governor.

• The David Brown Co. went on to produce the Cropmaster in 1947. This started a long run of production of Cropmaster tractors which finished in 1953.

• The Cropmaster was known for its reliability and quality and included many extras as standard features, such as hydraulic lift and electric lighting.

• The 50D model tractor was produced from 1953 to 1958. It featured a six-cylinder, 50 HP power unit and was a heavy tractor ideal for towing operations.

• Further models were introduced over the next few years, the 30C and 30D, the 25C and 25D and in 1956 the 2D was made.

• The 2D was designed for precision market garden work and for use on larger farms as a specialist row-crop machine. It was powered by a lightweight two-cylinder diesel engine.

• The model 900 was introduced in 1956 and was available with a choice of engines: diesel 40 HP; TVO 37 HP; gas 40 HP; and high-compression gas 45 HP.

• In 1957 the 900 Livedrive was produced with a dual clutch which could give live hydraulics.

• In 1959 the 950 Implematic was marketed, featuring the depth wheel system or draught control with equal facility.

• Further models were produced in the 1960s with enhanced features such as multi-speed PTO and improved front axle clearance. Height control was added to the hydraulic system and in the 880 Implemantic a new engine provided far greater power.

• The 770 model featured a patented two-lever twelve-speed gearbox as standard equipment and the Selectamatic hydraulic system. This was introduced to all David Brown tractors in October 1965.

• The 1200 Selectamatic tractor, produced in 1967 had a separate hand clutch and the hydraulic pump was mounted at the front of the engine. A standard feature was the luxury suspension seat.

• The Synchromesh twelve forward and four reverse gear-box was fitted as standard on all David Brown tractors from 1971. Also in 1971 the David Brown safety feature, the Weatherframe was introduced.

• In 1988 the Meltham factory closed, the David Brown company having been bought by Tenneco Inc. of Houston, Texas.

Sources of Information

• [1] Wikipedia
• Machine Tools by James Weir French in 2 vols. Published 1911 by Gresham
• The Engineer of 3rd September 1920 p233
• The Complete Encyclopedia of Tractors by Mirco de Cet published in 2006 by Rebo International ISBN 978-90-366-1893-9
• The Autocar of 5th April 1913 p
• Mechanical World Year Book 1917. Published by Emmott and Co of Manchester. Advert p230-1
• Mechanical World Year Book 1919. Published by Emmott and Co of Manchester. Advert p262-3
• Mechanical World Year Book 1945. Published by Emmott and Co of Manchester. Advert p18
• The Engineer of 5th January 1968 p10