Yesterdays Tractors

The Fordson Tractor F Series was a product of Henry Ford and Son and was the first tractor on the American scene in 1916. The four cylinder, three speed transmission tractor was mass produced the same way that made the Model T automobile famous. Yesterdays tractors were really an extension of the automobile and were in great need for more productive farming.

The whole idea with the Fordson tractors was to create a model that would dominate the American tractor market. It’s been estimated that some 750,000 of these tractors were sold between the years 1917 and 1928. Production first began on the Fordson tractors at Ford’s Dearborn Michigan factory. The Fordson tractors, which originally was made by the company as separate from it’s automobiles, were eventually merged into Ford Motor Company in 1920. Fordson tractors continued to be manufactured until the 1960’s. Fordson tractors would be built in factories in the U.S. Ireland, Russia and England. The Fordson tractor shown in the above photo is on public display at the Pioneer Homestead in Plano Texas, a northern suburb of Dallas.

To say the farming world needed such a machine in the early 1900’s is an understatement. The very first tractor to be seen was a steam powered machine in 1868. It’s general purpose was to haul mostly timber. The gasoline tractor that would come later was a direct result of the first gasoline engine which was developed by the Charter Gasoline Engine Company of Sterling, Illinois in 1887.

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