THE FORDSON

The son of a farmer, for many years Henry Ford experimented with prototype tractors such as his 1907 “Autoplow”.

Even though several companies were producing kits to convert Model Ts into light farm tractors the Ford Motor Company’s corporate board was opposed to putting a Ford tractor into production. Henry didn’t much care for having to abide by board decisions so he started a separate company. There was already a firm in Minneapolis, Minnesota that was named the Ford Tractor Company. The tractor they produced was of poor design and it was said that their main reason for being was to hold the Ford name in hopes of a buy out. Instead Henry called his new venture the “Henry Ford and Son Company” and when production started in 1917 the tractor would be called the “Fordson Model F”. By 1923, 77% of the tractors being sold in the U.S. were Fordsons. It has been called the most important design in the history of tractor manufacturing. Approximately 750,000 were sold in ten years and its success provided Ford with the money he needed to buy complete control of the Ford Motor Company. With no board opposition to contend with the two companies were then merged.

The Fordson Model F was produced in the United States from 1917 to 1928 and in Cork, Ireland from 1919 to 1932 before production was consolidated to Dagenham, England. The Fordson more than any other tractor introduced farmers to power equipment and is given credit for saving the people of Great Britain from food shortages in both world wars.