The Leyland lightweight range of tractors have surged in popularity over the last few years. This can partly be attributed to fact that those involved in industry have realised that they are very useful little tractors.
The Leyland lightweight range of tractors includes the BMC Mini tractor, Nuffield 4/25 and Leyland 154. One of the first questions that we always ask when speaking to a customer about parts for their tractor is ‘what model tractor do you have?’ This is a great first question to narrow down the parts they may need. If somebody says that they have a ‘little BMC Mini,’ ‘Mini tractor’ or ‘Nuffield Mini’ tractor then I always ask for clarification as there is quite often confusion between the BMC Mini tractor and the Nuffield 4/25. A lot of the parts are interchangeable, so it doesn’t matter, but some parts are not, and there is nothing worse than receiving the wrong parts in your delivery. At Tractor Spare Parts Ltd, we pride ourselves ensuring you get the tractor parts you require.
I thought it would be useful to clarify the differences between the different models of the Leyland lightweight range of tractors.
Leyland 154
The Leyland 154 is probably the easiest of the Leyland lightweight tractors to identify, as it is (usually) painted in the Leyland light blue and Leyland Dark blue colour scheme. It is accompanied with Leyland 154 down the side of the bonnet, which always helps! Although sometimes the wrong bonnets can be fitted, so it is never a good idea to go off what the decals say down the side – it is setting you up to fail from the start. We detail more about the bonnets later, as they are not all interchangeable across the range of the Leyland lightweight tractors.
The Leyland 154 tractor is fitted with a Leyland 1500 diesel engine, although it was also fitted with 1622 cc petrol Leyland engine. It is very rare to find a Leyland 154 with the Leyland 1622cc petrol engine in the UK. They were mostly export models and we sell most parts for these tractors through Northwoods Tractor in Gleason, Wisconin, USA (https://leylandtractorpartsusa.com/).
A fool-proof way of knowing what your tractor is, is to look at the serial numbers, that being both the serial number of the tractor and/or the engine. But where do you find these numbers? We might hear you ask, well, there is no need to worry.
This table shows the numbers that you might find on the Leyland 154 and it shows you the first number that was made during production. It gives you an idea of the type of number that you are looking for.
The tractor number is the tractor serial number and this number can be found on a plate that is mounted on the left-hand seat mounting bracket on the fuel tank. So every time you get on and off your tractor you will see this plate, and when you are sat on the tractor it is just behind your left knee.
It is all very well finding a serial number, but what does this number mean? Well, if you gave me a call and you had this number with you, I could tell straight away what model tractor you had, this is because I know how to decipher this serial number. If you want to know what model tractor you have then it is the first part of the tractor number that you need. The drawing below shows what the different parts of the serial numbers mean. The first section tells you what model it is, so if it is a BMC Mini tractor, then it will start 16D; if it is a Nuffield 4/25 tractor then the tractor number will start 25P and if it is a Leyland 154 tractor then the tractor number will start 154D.
The 2nd group in the serial number tells you how the tractor is set up, for example which of the many option combinations are put together to make this specific tractor up. There is a list of codes that can be used to decipher this second section.
The 3rd group is the serial number itself, and this can be used to identify the age of your tractor. This part of the serial number starts with the tractor number 6301 for the Leyland 154 tractors as the first tractor off the production line in 1969 and ended with 16701 in 1972. If you can extrapolate between these two dates with these numbers, it will give you a rough idea of when your tractor was built. I am sure that there are more detailed timelines available, possibly through the Nuffield and Leyland Tractor Club, but I don’t have that information. You can find more information on the Nuffield and Leyland club website - https://www.thenuffieldandleylandtractorclub.co.uk/wp/
It is as simple as that.
But this tactor number does not tell you everything about your tractor. It only tells you that it is a Leyland 154 and how far along in production it was made.
This serial number can be used when purchasing parts from us, as there are several change-points in the parts book, which are documented with serial number change points. For example, we know that when they changed the decals on the side of the bonnet of the Leyland 154 from Dark Blue background with a light blue stripe, to silver background with blue writing, and this change is documented in the parts book as taking place at serial number 13725. Below is a picture from the parts book which shows how this change point is documented.
Therefore, we can use this 3rd Group from the serial number to work out changepoints for certain parts that you may need.
There are a lot of parts available for the Leyland 154 tractor. Here at Tractor Spare Parts Ltd, we offer a full range of parts and you can find a lot of the parts on our website – follow this link to our range of Leyland 154 parts. However, we have more parts than are listed on the website, so if you cannot find what you need, or you are unsure which variation you need, or even if you simply prefer to speak to somebody in order make your purchase, then get in touch.
Nuffield 4/25
The Nuffield 4/25 tractor was the predecessor of the Leyland 154 and was made when the company was called Nuffield Tractors. It is effectively the same tractor as the Leyland 154 in that it was fitted with the Leyland 1500 engine, or the Leyland 1622 petrol engine, but there are certain parts that make this model a mix between the BMC Mini tractor and the Leyland 154.
Below is a table showing the numbers that you might expect to find on a Nuffield 4/25. It is similar to the table above for the Leyland 154 tractor, and it shows the first numbers in production.
The tractor number for the Nuffield 4/25 starts with the prefix 25P. The 3rd Group of the serial number starts with 101 for the first tractor in production and I believe ends with 4987. The Nuffield 4/25 was in production between November 1968 and December 1969 as far as my records tell me, but as for the Leyland 154 the Nuffield and Leyland Tractor club may have more detail on these numbers than myself.
The Nuffield 4/25 was fitted with the Leyland 1500 Diesel engine or the Leyland 1622 petrol engine. The diagrams below show where to find the engine serial numbers for both of these engines.
The 1500 Diesel engine serial number (not tractor number) is stamped onto a plate on the right-hand side of the cylinder block immediately below No. 2 and No. 3 heater plug.
The 1622 cc 4-cylinder petrol engine has its serial number stamped onto a plate secured to the right hand side of the cylinder block immediately below No. 2 and No. 3 spark plug.
Finding this engine serial number can confirm which engine you have in your tractor, and we always ask for an engine serial number when selling engine parts, just to make sure that there is no confusion.
Aside from numbers and engines, the Nuffield 4/25 is a bit of a cross-over model between the BMC Mini tractor and the Leyland 154 tractor. The styling of the Nuffield 4/25 is very similar to the BMC Mini, in that is shares the same front grille style with the BMC Mini tractor, which is part number BTJ2473 and is a mesh formed grille with no bars on the front. I think it is this grille that causes the confusion between the Nuffield 4/25 and the BMC Mini. They see this style of grille and think it is a BMC Mini tractor, which is why I always double check the engine as this is where confusion can set in.
The Nuffield 4/25 shares the gearbox with the Leyland 154, and it shares the PTO shaft with the Leyland 154 too, whereas on both parts the BMC Mini has its own version. Although the later PTO shaft can be used on the BMC Mini tractor and is interchangeable.
The front axle on the Nuffield 4/25 is the same as the Leyland 154, and different to the BMC Mini.
The Nuffield 4/25 is basically a Leyland 154 tractor with the front grille of a BMC Mini, just to confuse us all when we are trying to buy part for it!!!
If you are looking for parts for your Nuffield 4/25 tractor (now you have identified it as a Nuffield 4/25 tractor) look no further. Here at Tractor Spare Parts, we list a comprehensive range of parts for the Nuffield 4/25 on our website which you can browse by following this link. If you cannot find what you are looking for then please contact us as we have more parts in stock than we have listed on the website. We should be able to help you with most of the parts that you need for your Nuffield 4/25 tractor.
BMC Mini Tractor
From the above descriptions you have probably gathered more or less about the BMC Mini tractor. This tractor has the BMC 948 cc diesel engine in it, or for export models the 948-cc petrol engine.
This tractor is called the BMC Mini because of this engine that was fitted into it. The engine was produced by BMC, and it was destined to be the engine that went into the Mini cars. However, it is a very low compression engine and it is a devil to start, and therefore it didn’t make the final cut and the Mini car was fitted with an 848 cc engine instead. Therefore, this engine was fitted into these tractors, and they are fantastic engines – once you get them to start! You can hear one of these engines that has been through our workshop on our You Tube page – click here for the video.
This table above shows the same numbers as for the Leyland 154 and the Nuffield 4/25 tractors. It shows the expected tractor number, which you will find on the left-hand seat mounting bracket on the fuel tank. The tractor number for a BMC Mini tractor will start 16D. As you can see the tractor number started with tractor number 101, which was in December 1965, and it ended with tractor number 4301, which was in October 1968. I have the following dates linked to the following serial numbers:
1965 December 16D 101
1966 January 16D 441
1967 January 16D 2599
1967 June 16D 2671
1968 October (Ceased) 16D 4301
The engine number on a BMC Mini tractor can be found on the right-hand side of the cylinder block. On a 948-cc petrol engine the engine number will be stamped on a plate secured immediately below No spark plug. On a 948-cc diesel engine the serial number is letter stamped onto a machined face below No. 2 and No. 3 heater plug/glow plug.
The BMC Mini tractor itself looks very similar to the Nuffield 4/25 in that they share the same front grille surround and the same mesh grille. But these two models do not share the same bonnet as the Nuffield 4/25 has a bonnet which is about 4” longer, to compensate for the larger 1500 diesel engine fitted into these tractors (The Nuffield 4/25 and the Leyland 154 share the same bonnet top).
This picture above is a BMC Mini.
This picture is of two Nuffield 4/25 tractors. You can see that the front grille is the same as on the BMC Mini, as is the front grille surround. The bonnet is longer than the one on the BMC Mini on the Nuffield 4/25 as the bonnet must accommodate the larger Leyland 1500 diesel engine.
Usually, the Nuffield 4/25 is painted in the Nuffield Orange paint, but this particular tractor at the front of the picture is painted green as it was part of a fleet of tractors that were all painted green.
As for parts for the BMC Mini tractor we have plenty of parts listed to fit this tractor. You can find these parts by following this link. We have more parts for these tractors than we have listed on the website, so if you have a BMC Mini tractor and you need parts then do not hesitate to call Tractor Spare Parts Ltd and we can work with you to ensure that we keep these tractors running.
They are very desirable tractors and with there not being many made they are keeping their value well.
What Colour Should My Tratcor Be?
The easiest tractor to clarify depending on colour is again the Leyland 154, which is painted two-tone blue – Leyland Light Blue for the panels such as the bonnet, nose-cone and the mudguards, and Leyland Dark Blue for the chassis. The wheels are painted Leyland silver.
The Nuffield 4/25 tractor should be painted Nuffield Orange, which is the same as the range of larger Nuffield tractors such as the Nuffield 4/60, Universal 4, Nuffield 3DL and Nuffield 4/65. The wheels are Nuffield white, which is a version of Old English white.
The BMC Mini is not painted Nuffield Orange, but it painted Nuffield Poppy Red, which is a redder colour than the Nuffield orange. It also has Nuffield white wheels, like the Nuffield 4/25.
I hope that this information has helped you identify if you have a BMC Mini or a Nuffeld 4/25, or even a Leyland 154 tractor.
These small lightweight Leyland tractors are very popular as they have many uses for many people. We have customers who use them in fruit farms, horse paddocks, plant nurseries, smallholding grazing management as well as loads of other uses. They are easy to transport so appeal to those who want to go on road-runs or take their tractor to a show.
We have a BMC Mini tractor ourselves that we use. It quite often has a link-box on the back which in itself has a lot of different uses.
Of course, if you are unsure what tractor you have, or which parts you need for your tractor, then we are more than happy to help you. Get in touch with us. With having these tractors ourselves too, we can help you with anything that you are unsure about.
