Tractors don’t come much bigger than Ford’s mighty FW Series machines, although your chances of seeing one out and about in the UK are sadly slim. So you can imagine my excitement at the prospect of getting a close look at Tim Pearman’s 1981 FW-30, which has actually been part of his extensive tractor collection for nearly two decades.
I first spotted this awesome machine grinding its way around the packed arena at last summer’s Great Dorset Steam Fair, after which Tim kindly agreed to having its story featured in this magazine. With only 145 of these blue and white giants having been officially imported into the UK during the late 1970s and early ‘80s, they’re an understandably rare sight today. I visited Tim’s Worcestershire home the day before the Tractor World Show at Malvern, and our plans were nearly scuppered by snow. Thankfully, an early-morning thaw allowed us to rouse the beast from its slumbers and take some photographs outside under a leaden sky.
Chance encounter
“I bought my FW-30 back in 2005, having found it completely by chance,” Tim explained. “I was tipping soil on a farm near Pershore, in Worcestershire, and happened to spot the tractor parked against a hedge and obviously very neglected. There was a window missing from the cab, brambles were growing through the structure and the whole machine was surrounded by a sea of nettles. Nevertheless, I knew exactly what it was and, having beaten a path to it through the undergrowth, went
