John Fowler was an agricultural engineer and inventor who was born in
Wiltshire in 1826. He worked on the
mechanisation of agriculture and was based in
Leeds. He is credited with the invention of steam-driven ploughing engines. He died 4 December 1864, following a hunting accident. After his death, John Fowler & Co., was then continued by Robert Fowler and Robert Eddison. David Greig handled the day-to-day management. In 1886 the limited company of John Fowler & Co., (Leeds) Ltd., was formed. It merged with
Marshall, Sons & Co., Ltd., of
Gainsborough in 1947 to form Marshall-Fowler Ltd. The company offered its first traction engines for sale in 1865. The last Fowler steam driven vehicle was a
steam roller produced in 1937. Later versions of the gyrotiller were produced as attachments to the standard Fowler diesel crawler range with Fowler-Sanders engines of 30, 40 and 80 hp. A total of 88 gyrotillers were produced. Although not well known for them, Fowler also built a small number (117 has been claimed) of
steam wagons. These were vertical-boilered, with an unusual single-crank cross-compound vee-twin engine. They featured a gearbox (but no clutch) to provide a low
drive ratio for climbing steep hills with heavy loads. At least one was preserved, as part of the
Tom Varley collection. During the Second World War, the Hunslet factory also produced
Matilda,
Cromwell, and
Centaur tanks for the Army. Track castings were made at a Ministry of Supply factory built in 1943 at Sprotbrough, and after the war Fowler acquired this highly mechanised foundry. In 1947 Fowler came under the ownership of
Marshall, Sons & Co. (themselves owned by
Thomas W. Ward Ltd). The two companies produced agricultural tractors with Fowler focussing on the tracked versions, and Marshall on the wheeled versions. Although Fowler operated as a subsidiary of Marshall until at least 1966 the companies were eventually merged and the exhibits at the 1970 Smithfield show (three new Track Marshall tractors) are attributed to Marshall-Fowler Limited, John Fowler Works, Leeds. Production at the Hunslet factory finally ceased in early 1974, by which time production of both tracked and wheeled tractors had been moved to the Marshall works at Gainsborough.
Construction equipment In the 1950s it was known for the 'Challenger 3' vehicle, 95hp, for construction, built from 1950. ==Preservation==