Kenny Mair driving his Matbro Mastiff pivot steering 4WD tractor
The image is courtesy of Derek Dean, Huntly who explains that Kenny bought the Matbro Mastiff tractor locally around 1982 as he was unable to afford a Ford County 4x4 at the time. Kenny added the Hiab crane loader and the Ford tractor front engine cover and worked with it until he acquired a 4WD County which he preferred when working in the wood. The Matbro was sold on. The PDF shows a second view of the tractor with the Hiab crane and new grapple attached.
Very few of these machines were produced and consequently much sought after by tractor enthusiasts.
Some details from the internet on the Matbro Mastiff origins and production:
“1963 MATBRO Mastiff 6/100MT 6cylinder diesel tractor
The Matbro Mastiff agricultural tractor is one of the rarest and possibly the most impressive and desirable of all the Ford conversions. Just 20 were built from 1963-64 and there are currently only ten known survivors in preservation.
The Mastiff design was the brainchild of Len Mathewh co- founder of Matbro Ltd of Horley in Surrey. During the 1950s, Mathew and his chief engineer, George Chapman, developed a four-wheel drive loading shovel
based on Ford components. The shovel adopted the pivot-steer principle because the two colleagues believed that an articulated unit was the most efficient and cost effective method of getting the power to the ground with the added advantage of a reduced turning circle. The Mastiff loading shovel was launched in 1958.
'
The loading shovel also provided the basis for the agricultural Mastiff tractor, which had two Fordson Super Major rear-axle/transmission units linked via a propeller shaft. A six-cylinder Ford 590E industrial engine, rated at 100 hp and mated to a normal Fordson six-speed gearbox, was mounted above the front drive unit. A five section Reynolds chain inside a transfer case transmitted the drive from the gearbox to the propeller-shaft. The machine was steered by a double-acting hydraulic
ram. The rear linkage had the benefit of an assister ram and was powered by a crankshaft-driven pump. Hydraulically-operated differential locks were provided on both axles, and a single brake pedal operated a disc-
brake on the propeller-shaft. Ballast was a front-mounted weight beneath the engine and two side panniers just forward of the rear axle.
Following trials in Lincolnshire, the tractor was launched in 1962 as the Matbro Mastiff 6/100 MT with a price tag of £2,500 (less 17.5 percent to the dealer). It was introduced to the public at a demonstration held in September, with the Mastiff working with a five-furrow Ransomes TS78 plough. Production was at Matbro's new Frome factory in Somerset, which had recently opened.
Sales were aimed at arable farmers operating heavy crawler tractors. However, the model proved to be ahead of its time; prospective customers were reluctant to commit to such a novel design and sales were slow. High development costs also meant that the Mastiff was more expensive than its rival counterparts, A total of only 20 tractors were built, including six that were exported to Israel, Sweden or Denmark, before a halt was called to production in August 1964. Of those 20, ten are known to have survived with eight in the UK, one in Germany and one in Sweden”.
Download Large Version (381kB)
Groups: Forestry in Action, Timber harvesters, processors, forwarders and cable cranes