Henry FORD

Henry Ford, born July 30, 1863 was the son of an immigrant Irish farmer who famously made cars affordable to a large number of people. He is credited with inventing the production line assembly process and it created an empire, which took raw materials and turned then into the cars. The Ford Company remains one of the world’s largest concerns with an economy greater than that of many countries.

Henry always retained his father’s tie with the land. He was keenly aware of the hard toil experienced by the farmers of his era and sought to use his manufacturing knowledge to better the farmer’s lot. The Model T Ford car took all his interest for some time. He built his first experimental tractor (see photo) in 1907 using car parts. It was known as an Automobile Plough. In 1915 he started work on a production tractor the Model F. Under the direction of Chief Engineer Joseph Galamb, Eugene Farkas instigated, a self-supporting, iron casings to form the chassis instead of the traditional frame. Ford was hesitant but after the 50 prototype models were successful in the field, he agreed that the structure was correct and ideal for mass production. By making the casings of the motor and transmission for the tractor with materials developed in car industry, it was possible to develop a lightweight tractor. The Fordson model F tractor weighed only 1100 kg.

As a result of Ford boardroom dissent, Henry Ford set up a separate company to produce and sell tractors: Henry Ford and Son Company, referring to him and his son Edsel, sold the tractors under the Fordson name. Later, when Ford assumed complete control of Ford Motor Company in 1919, the two companies were merged. The Fordson Model ‘F’ was manufactured at Dearborn, Michigan, from 1917 to 1928. A sister plant was set up in Cork, Cork County, Ireland, and the Model F was made there from 1919 to 1929. Ford had sought ways he could help the country of his ancestors and this venture gave him an opportunity to help both the country and the in particular the farmer with whom he closely identified. All tractor production was stopped in 1928, but the factory in Ireland was re-opened, where the Fordson Model N was built from 1929 to 1932, mainly to serve the Russian market. This production line was moved to Dagenham England in 1933.