H P Saunderson founded his Saunderson Tractor and Implement Company in

Elstow Elstow is a village and civil parish in the English county of Bedfordshire. John Bunyan was born here at Bunyan's End, which lay approximately halfway between the hamlet of Harrowden and Elstow's High Street. History Countess Judith, niece o ...

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

in 1890 after visiting Canada and seeing the Massey and Harris companies. In 1898 Saunderson demonstrated a "Self Moving Vehicle" at a trial organised at the Royal Show which it unfortunately failed to complete because of engine failure. It was priced at £250 but it is not known if any were sold. At this time it was the largest tractor company in the world, but went to be sold to a larger, vehicle manufacturing company.

History

By the early 1900s production of 3-wheeled multi-purpose tractors was proceeding and by 1910, 4-wheeled models joined the range. Some of these were powered by

Crossley Crossley, based in Manchester, United Kingdom, was a pioneering company in the production of internal combustion engines. Since 1988 it has been part of the Rolls-Royce Power Engineering group. More than 100,000 Crossley oil and gas engines ...

engines. By the start of the

Great War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

conventional tractors were being produced just in time for the sales boom caused by the wartime labour shortage and for a short time Saunderson were Britain's biggest tractor makers. This success was not to last as the 1920s agricultural slump hit sales of all tractor manufacturers and so in 1924 Saunderson was looking for a buyer. In 1922 they introduced a new light Tractor, this had a two-cylinder 'V'-formation

petrol-paraffin engine A petrol-paraffin engine, TVO engine (United Kingdom) or gasoline-kerosene engine (North America) is an old-fashioned type of dual-fuel internal combustion engine with spark-ignition, designed to start on petrol (gasoline) and then to switch to r ...

. This was a 20 hp unit, giving 12 hp on the draw bar. the tractor had a 3-year

warranty In contract law, a warranty is a promise which is not a condition of the contract or an innominate term: (1) it is a term "not going to the root of the contract",Hogg M. (2011). ''Promises and Contract Law: Comparative Perspectives''p. 48 Cambrid ...

. Crossley Brothers took over the business in 1924 putting them into competition in the vehicle business with Crossley Motors.http://www.crossley-motors.org.uk/history/others.html#Saunderson%20Tractors Crossley The tractors were rebranded as Crossleys. As a result of the takeover Crossley also entered into railway locomotive building business for a year as work in hand included three petrol powered locomotives for Beswicks Limeworks of Hindlow, Derbyshire. The factory at Bedford continued in operation for many years making small

stationary engines A stationary engine is an engine whose framework does not move. They are used to drive immobile equipment, such as pumps, generators, mills or factory machinery, or cable cars. The term usually refers to large immobile reciprocating engines, pr ...

as well as

agricultural machinery Agricultural machinery relates to the mechanical structures and devices used in farming or other agriculture. There are many types of such equipment, from hand tools and power tools to tractors and the countless kinds of farm implements that the ...

. It was sold in the mid-1930s and became known as the Bedford Plough and Engineering co., the factory continuing to operate until the 1970s.

Model Range

*Saunderson Model A *Saunderson Model G *Saunderson Light tractor *saunderson model v 50 hp

Surviving examples

A fully restored, operational Saunderson Model A three-wheeled tractor from 1906 is displayed and run at the

Pioneer Settlement The Pioneer Settlement, in Swan Hill, Victoria, is Australia's first open-air museum, portraying life on the Murray in the era 1830-1930. It opened in 1966 as the Swan Hill Folk Museum, before being renamed, following a visit by the Queen in 197 ...

, Swan Hill, Victoria, Australia. A four-wheeled model A is on display at the Western Development Museum in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. (A large water tank, rather than a radiator is used for engine cooling.) Saunderson shipped tractor parts to an assembly plant in Regina, Saskatchewan beginning in 1907. http://wdm.ca/artifact_articles/saunderson.html A Saunderson Model G tractor from 1914 is preserved in the

Grampian Transport Museum Grampian Transport Museum is a transport museum and charitable-based trust located in Alford, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Its exhibits chart the history of transport in the north east of Scotland through dramatic displays, working and climb-ab ...

which is situated in Alford near

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

and a 1916 model is on display at

Rutland County Museum Rutland County Museum is located in Oakham, Rutland, in the old Riding School of the Rutland Fencible Cavalry which was built in 1794–95. The museum, opened in 1969, houses a collection of objects relating to local rural and agricultural ...

Oakham Oakham is the county town of Rutland in the East Midlands of England, east of Leicester, south-east of Nottingham and west of Peterborough. It had a population of 10,922 in the 2011 census, estimated at 11,191 in 2019. Oakham is to the west o ...

Rutland Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire. Its greatest len ...

References

External links

{{Commons category-inline, Saunderson tractors
Crossley - Saunderson Web page
Tractor manufacturers of the United Kingdom Defunct manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom Companies based in Bedfordshire Manufacturing companies established in 1890 Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1890 1890 establishments in England

History

Model Range

Surviving examples

See also

References

External links