Ivel Agricultural Motors

Dan Albone was born in Biggleswade in 1860 and was one of the early tractor pioneers in Britain. He was brought up on a small farm. His interest in cycling led him to set up the Ivel Cycle Works.

• Dan Albone was the first to introduce the internal combustion engine to the ordinary farmer.

• He built his first tractor in 1901. This was a three wheeled design and was powered by various engines producing 8 HP.

• The tractor was called the Ivel, the name which Dan Albone had used for his cycle business and which was the name of the river which ran through Biggleswade.

• The Ivel tractors were sold overseas in eighteen countries, however in Britain most farmers relied on steam power and horse power in the beginning of the twentieth century.

• Dan Albone kept an Ivel tractor and a range of machinery on land near his factory and held demonstrations of farming by tractor power every fortnight.

• He demonstrated the tractor as a fire engine complete with crew dressed in firemen's uniforms; he showed a tractor turned into a military ambulance using steel cladding to protect the driver; the tractor was also used to show how medical supplies could be hauled over rough ground.

• Dan Albone died at the age of 46 in 1906 and the company went into receivership in 1920.

Sources of Information

From 1890 to the Present Day Farm Tractors by Michael Williams published in 2005 by Silverdale Books ISBN 978-1-84509-251-1

The Complete Encylopedia of Tractors by Mirco de Cet published in 2006 by Rebo International ISBN 978-90-366-1893-9