David Brown and Sons

David Brown Limited is a British engineering company, principally engaged in the manufacture of gears and gearboxes. Their major gear manufacturing plant was in Swan Lane, Lockwood, Huddersfield, adjacent to Lockwood railway station.

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)

• 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)

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

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 maufacturing 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.

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