Room for a British plough
Room for a British plough
FEW people would contemplate building a plough from scratch, but that is exactly what Blue Lias Engineering founder Lew Hudson has done.
Mr Hudson spent 24 years working for Dowdeswell Engineering before he was made redundant when the company announced plans to cease production of implements early last year.
"There is room for a British plough and I feel there are things I have learned over the years to make this succeed," he says. "Farmers want a mechanically simple, no frills plough that is easy to set up and adjust."
Blue Lias Engineering will assemble the ploughs from components machined and fabricated by independent, British-owned firms. The first prototype is now being tested on land close to Mr Hudsons base at Southam, Warks.
It is fitted with Dowdeswell DD bodies, but others will be available according to customer requirements. Unusual features include a galvanised finish for the main beam and some other parts. It can help relieve post-welding stress in components but may not be used on production versions.
This first model – the BL1 – is a five to seven-furrow heavy duty plough fitted with shear bolt protection. Front furrow width is hydraulically adjustable using a parallel linkage, while hydraulics are used to set the beam angle and narrow the plough as part of the turnover sequence.
The hydraulic cylinders are fitted with check valves to prevent the oil seeping back and changing the plough settings.
Furrow width adjustment is carried out by a bolt arrangement in steps between 300mm (12in) and 450mm (18in). Skims are also adjustable by pins leading to quick and easy setting of the working depth. Under beam clearance is 725mm (29in) and point-to-point spacing 900mm (36in).
"The main priority was to keep the plough simple and easy to work on so that anybody can set it up and use it," says Mr Hudson. "There has already been a lot of interest from local farmers who have seen the plough being tested."
A lighter three to five-furrow model with shear bolt protection is on the drawing board and auto reset versions are planned for a later date.
Despite a much reduced plough market and intense competition between makers, Mr Hudson is hopeful his bespoke design will sell up to 30 this year, either through dealers or direct from Blue Lias Engineering where the firm has no dealer representation. *
The five to seven-furrow BL1 prototype is being tested this winter. It will be the largest of a planned new range of ploughs. Lew Hudson (right), former Dowdeswell service manager and founder of Blue Lias Engineering, is one of the few engineers to put his own name to a plough.