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Fordson
Fordson was a brand name of tractors and trucks. It was used on a range of mass-produced general-purpose tractors manufactured by Henry Ford & Son Inc from 1917 to 1920, by Ford Motor Company (U.S.) and Ford Motor Company Ltd (U.K.) from 1920 to 1928, and by Ford Motor Company Ltd (U.K.) alone from 1929 to 1964. The latter (Ford of Britain) also later built trucks and vans under the Fordson brand.
After 1964, the Fordson name was dropped and all Ford tractors were simply badged as Fords in both the UK and the US.
Between 1917 and 1922, the Fordson design for tractors was somewhat like the Ford Model T was for automobiles—it captured the public's imagination and widely popularized the machine, with a reliable design, a low price affordable for workers and farmers, a widespread dealership network, and a production capacity for large numbers. Just as the Ford Model T helped the public to appreciate how soon cars and trucks might replace most horses in transport, the Fordson helped people to appreciate how soon tractors might replace most horses in farming (advancing the mechanization of agriculture). As with cars, Ford never had the market to itself but it dominated the market for a time; for tractors, from roughly 1917 to 1925, and again from 1946 to 1953. Ford was the only automotive firm to sell cars, trucks, and tractors simultaneously from 1917 to 1928.
For a decade between 1928 and 1939, Ford of the U.S. left the tractor business. During that decade, Ford of Britain continued to build Ford and develop new variants, which it exported widely. In 1939 Ford of the U.S. reentered the tractor market with an all-new model, this time with the Ford brand. Ford of Britain continued to use the Fordson brand until 1964.
Fordson production took place in the U.S. (1917–1928); Cork, Ireland (1919–1923 and 1928–1933); and at Dagenham, Essex, England (1933–1964). Tens of thousands of Fordsons, most from the U.S. and some from Ireland, were exported to the Soviet Union from 1920 to 1927. Soviet Fordson clones were also built at Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) from 1924 and at Stalingrad (now Volgograd) from 1930.
Henry Ford grew up in an extended family of farmers in Wayne County a few miles from Detroit, Michigan in the late 19th century. At the time, farm work was extremely arduous, because, on the typical farm, virtually nothing could get done without manual labor or animal labor as the motive power. As his interest in automobiles grew, he also expressed a desire to "lift the burden of farming from flesh and blood and place it on steel and motors." In the early 20th century, he began to build experimental tractors from automobile components. Four years after founding the Ford Motor Company in 1903, Ford finished his first experimental tractor in 1907 on Woodward Avenue in Detroit, referring to it as the "Automobile Plow". Approximately 600 gasoline-powered tractors were in use on American farms in 1908. Fordson tractor design was headed by Eugene Farkas and József Galamb, who had previously been involved in the design of the legendary Ford Model T.
Traction engines had been around for a while, but they were large, heavy, expensive machines suited to prairie grain farming more than to small family farms in other regions. In the early 1910s, North America and Europe were hungry for small, inexpensive tractors, and many people seized on the Model T as a platform with which to create them. The idea of an auto-like tractor, made using auto-like parts and methods or by conversion from autos, was ripe. American engineer, inventor, and businessman Henry Ford built experimental tractors from automobile components during the early 20th century and launched a prototype known as the Model B in August 1915. Further prototypes, with a dedicated tractor design, followed in 1916. With World War I raging in Europe, the first regular-production Henry Ford & Son tractors were exported to the U.K. in 1917 to expand British agriculture. In 1918, exports continued, the tractors began to be labeled as Fordsons, and U.S. domestic sales began. Sales boomed in 1918 and 1919.
Henry Ford experimented with auto-plows and heavier tractors. In August 1915, at a plowing demonstration in Fremont, Nebraska, he introduced a newly designed tractor known as the Model B. It used a 16 hp (12 kW), two-cylinder, horizontally opposed engine, a spur gear transmission and three wheels—two front drivers and one rear steerer. The Model B was never produced but did gain enough publicity to let the world know Ford was interested in developing a tractor.
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Fordson
Fordson was a brand name of tractors and trucks. It was used on a range of mass-produced general-purpose tractors manufactured by Henry Ford & Son Inc from 1917 to 1920, by Ford Motor Company (U.S.) and Ford Motor Company Ltd (U.K.) from 1920 to 1928, and by Ford Motor Company Ltd (U.K.) alone from 1929 to 1964. The latter (Ford of Britain) also later built trucks and vans under the Fordson brand.
After 1964, the Fordson name was dropped and all Ford tractors were simply badged as Fords in both the UK and the US.
Between 1917 and 1922, the Fordson design for tractors was somewhat like the Ford Model T was for automobiles—it captured the public's imagination and widely popularized the machine, with a reliable design, a low price affordable for workers and farmers, a widespread dealership network, and a production capacity for large numbers. Just as the Ford Model T helped the public to appreciate how soon cars and trucks might replace most horses in transport, the Fordson helped people to appreciate how soon tractors might replace most horses in farming (advancing the mechanization of agriculture). As with cars, Ford never had the market to itself but it dominated the market for a time; for tractors, from roughly 1917 to 1925, and again from 1946 to 1953. Ford was the only automotive firm to sell cars, trucks, and tractors simultaneously from 1917 to 1928.
For a decade between 1928 and 1939, Ford of the U.S. left the tractor business. During that decade, Ford of Britain continued to build Ford and develop new variants, which it exported widely. In 1939 Ford of the U.S. reentered the tractor market with an all-new model, this time with the Ford brand. Ford of Britain continued to use the Fordson brand until 1964.
Fordson production took place in the U.S. (1917–1928); Cork, Ireland (1919–1923 and 1928–1933); and at Dagenham, Essex, England (1933–1964). Tens of thousands of Fordsons, most from the U.S. and some from Ireland, were exported to the Soviet Union from 1920 to 1927. Soviet Fordson clones were also built at Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) from 1924 and at Stalingrad (now Volgograd) from 1930.
Henry Ford grew up in an extended family of farmers in Wayne County a few miles from Detroit, Michigan in the late 19th century. At the time, farm work was extremely arduous, because, on the typical farm, virtually nothing could get done without manual labor or animal labor as the motive power. As his interest in automobiles grew, he also expressed a desire to "lift the burden of farming from flesh and blood and place it on steel and motors." In the early 20th century, he began to build experimental tractors from automobile components. Four years after founding the Ford Motor Company in 1903, Ford finished his first experimental tractor in 1907 on Woodward Avenue in Detroit, referring to it as the "Automobile Plow". Approximately 600 gasoline-powered tractors were in use on American farms in 1908. Fordson tractor design was headed by Eugene Farkas and József Galamb, who had previously been involved in the design of the legendary Ford Model T.
Traction engines had been around for a while, but they were large, heavy, expensive machines suited to prairie grain farming more than to small family farms in other regions. In the early 1910s, North America and Europe were hungry for small, inexpensive tractors, and many people seized on the Model T as a platform with which to create them. The idea of an auto-like tractor, made using auto-like parts and methods or by conversion from autos, was ripe. American engineer, inventor, and businessman Henry Ford built experimental tractors from automobile components during the early 20th century and launched a prototype known as the Model B in August 1915. Further prototypes, with a dedicated tractor design, followed in 1916. With World War I raging in Europe, the first regular-production Henry Ford & Son tractors were exported to the U.K. in 1917 to expand British agriculture. In 1918, exports continued, the tractors began to be labeled as Fordsons, and U.S. domestic sales began. Sales boomed in 1918 and 1919.
Henry Ford experimented with auto-plows and heavier tractors. In August 1915, at a plowing demonstration in Fremont, Nebraska, he introduced a newly designed tractor known as the Model B. It used a 16 hp (12 kW), two-cylinder, horizontally opposed engine, a spur gear transmission and three wheels—two front drivers and one rear steerer. The Model B was never produced but did gain enough publicity to let the world know Ford was interested in developing a tractor.
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