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| [[image:Im0905DCS-FsonSuperDex.jpg |thumb| Fordson Super Dexta. ]] | | [[image:Im0905DCS-FsonSuperDex.jpg |thumb| Fordson Super Dexta. ]] |
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| Henry Ford set up the company Ford and Son in 1917, it later became known as '''Fordson'''. He had previously tried to interest the directors of the [[Ford Motor Co]] in producing agricultural machinery, but when this met with no success he set up the new company to market the tractor he had created. | | Henry Ford set up the company Ford and Son in 1917, it later became known as '''Fordson'''. Henry had previously tried to interest the directors of the [[Ford Motor Co]] in producing agricultural machinery, but when this met with no success he set up the new company to market the tractor he had created. |
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| * The Model F was supposedly the product of about fifty prototypes. The engine and gearbox were those used in the Ford Model B car.
| | ==Tractors == |
| | | See [[Fordson: Tractors]] |
| * Initially the Model F was produced on a limited scale, however in 1918 production increased substantially and in Britain the government placed an order for six thousand Model Fs.
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| * To produce such a quantity of machines the assembly line methods used in the production of the Model T car were employed. This meant that the production costs were low so that the tractor could be sold at a price that the average farmer could afford.
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| * The tractor was used widely in Britain and the United States and also in Russia.
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| * The Model F tractor was so successful in the United States that many competitors went out of business. The Model F was not without its disadvantages but it was reliable, cheap to buy and cheap to run.
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| * In 1928 production was moved to a new factory in Cork, Ireland and it was here that the Model F became the Model N.
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| * The Model N was more powerful, had stronger front wheels and an improved wheel-grip. It also featured a governor, a water pump and a high-tension magneto.
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| * The location of the factory meant that all raw materials had to be imported and this increased the production costs, therefore the Fordson factory relocated to Dagenham in England.
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| * The Model N was selling well in the United Kingdom but Fordson's tractor sales in the United States were not as good as competitors designed machines which could outdo the Model N.
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| * Fordson then created the All-Around which was a general purpose row-crop tractor.
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| * The Fordson Dagenham plant continued to produce the Model N and in 1945 produced an updated model called the E27N. This featured an updated Fordson engine with a three forward and one reverse gearbox, a conventional clutch and a rear axle drive. It was powered by an in-line, four-cylinder side-valve engine that produced 30 HP.
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| * In 1948 over fifty thousand E27Ns were produced with production ceasing with the arrival of the New Major in 1952.
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| * The New Major had six speed transmission and hydraulic three-point hitch and in 1958 the power was increased to 43 HP and power steering was an optional extra. It was introduced at the 1951 Smithfield Show.
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| * Following the New Major came the Super Major and New Performance Super Major. These both featured differential lock, disc brakes and draft control.
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| * The Dexta and Super Major tractors were the last models to manufactured under the Fordson name and in 1961 the United States and United Kingdom operations were combined.
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| ==Buses== | | ==Buses== |
