Fergie For The Win

The First Tractor to Reach the South Pole

Many tractors have made the trek to the South Pole but only one can claim being The First. 

On January 4, 1958, Sir Edmund Hilary arrived at the geographic South Pole, exhausted and exhilarated. His team was the first mechanized overland crew to succeed. What made the feat so amazing were the tractors they used: small Ferguson TE20 farm tractors. Fergies. The cabs had no top to them. Very little elbow-room. And they only got 1.5 miles-per-gallon.

The team set out on October 14, 1957, from Scott Station in eastern Antarctica –three Fergies, a tracked “Weasel” pulling supply sledges, and a lot of optimism. Twelve-hundred miles of the harshest, coldest terrain on earth lie ahead of them. Their task? Setting up supply stations for another team coming from the opposite side of the continent. Their goal? To prove that Antarctica was one continent, not two. The Weasel broke down partway there. They parked it and kept on going.

After ignoring orders to stay put at their last supply station, the team left much of their supply load and pushed ahead. On January 4, 1958, they pulled into the U.S. Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. And made history.

“In the end, our faithful tractors got us through, with 20 gallons to spare.” 

– Sir Edmund Hillary