The Trials and Tribulations of Henry s Farm Tractor

Transcription

1 Regional Group #27 April 2018 Volume 49 Issue 4 The Trials and Tribulations of Henry s Farm Tractor Story By Dave Wyss n 1917 Henry Ford said I want to I lift the burden of farming from flesh and bones and place it on steel and motors. Ford was fifty-three and on his way to becoming one of the richest men in the world by producing his assembly line produced Model T Ford. Henry Ford revolutionized the tractor industry when he employed mass production assembly lines to build his first tractor. With his assembly techniques Ford could offer his tractors at lower prices. International Harvestor came out with the Farmall using Ford techniques, but also offering the ability to cultivate row crops. Ford tractors were built in Cork, Ireland under a different company, separate from Ford Motor Company. The In This Issue Henry s Farm Tractor... Pg 1 President s Letter / Minutes... Pg 2 Farm Tractor continued/sunshine Report... Pg 3 RERG #27 Swap Meet Flyer... Pg 4 Event Calendar... Pg 5 Minutes continued/ Birthdays... Pg 6 Membership Information... Pg 7 Photo/Art of the Month... Pg 8 company was Henry Ford and Son and shortened to Fordson. Some of the early tractors like Fordson had a disturbing tendency, if the plow hit a large enough rock, the plow would stop and the tractor would try to keep going. Many tractors would pivot on the drive wheels, flip over, and kill the driver. By 1928 fewer and fewer Fordsons were being sold so Henry lost interest in tractors, and got out of the agriculture equipment business. He stayed out of the ag business until 1939, and entered with a new partner, Harry Ferguson. Henry George Harry Ferguson was born in Northern Ireland on November 4, In 1902 at 18 he joined his brother Joe in a car and bicycle repair business in Belfast. In 1904 he began to race motorcycles. In 1909 at Hillborough he made a monoplane taking his first powered flight in Ireland, traveling 130 meters. In 1914 with World War I starting, Ferguson worked with British Ministry of Munitions (MOM) food production program. The British imported all available US tractors to eliminate Keystone-France food shortages caused by the loss of farm laborers from England and Ireland in World War I. Ferguson became knowledgeable with tractors, especially the Fordson, while working with the (MOM), partly because the British government ordered Ferguson to cure the rearing problem. Ferguson hired a team of superior mechanics to design a plow to prevent this problem. Producing tractors in Cork, Ireland was costly for Ford because all the tractors sold in the US were at least 3 thousand miles away from the factories. Production was transferred from Cork to England in Harry Ferguson was also producing tractors during this period. He developed a plow suitable for the Fordson Model F. His very first system was made with Eber and Sherman. He founded this Continued on Page 3

2 Page 2 From The President: t s April and that means two things: I free pizza at the next meeting; and getting ready for the club s Swap Meet in May. This will be one of two times this year that we have free pizza at our meetings and it s always popular so you know meeting attendance will be high. The other thing we ll be doing at this meeting is getting flyers to hand out and post at various local businesses and signing up for the tasks necessary to run the Swap Meet. The major tasks are laying out the field on Saturday then on Sunday parking the cars and trucks and selling coffee and pies, etc. This Swap Meet is the fundraiser for our club and, along with your dues, provides the means to run the club events throughout the year so it s important. These events include tours, free pizza nights and the holiday banquet among other things. Once again, organizing the Swap Meet is in the capable hands of Dave Peterson and Carol Rasmussen is handling the food court but the club needs you to sign up and help with making the Swap Meet a success. Sadly, we recently lost two long-time members: Beth Carpenter and Eileen Rawson. As you will read elsewhere in this newsletter, Beth passed away after a long bout with cancer. In addition, Eileen also died of cancer recently. She was serving as secretary for the club at the time as she has done in the past. You could never meet nicer people. Our thoughts are with their families. We will miss them both. Fortunately, we ve had members step up to serve as secretary. Julie McClain has offered to be secretary at the regular meetings and Charlene Trabucco has offered to be secretary at the Board meetings. While a little unorthodox, this should serve the club very well. Barbara Haen has also volunteered to serve as back -up secretary as needed. Thanks to all of you for volunteering. It s great to be in a club where folks are so willing to meet the club s needs. And, now it s your turn to step up and help with the Swap Meet as so many of you have done in the past. See you at the next meeting. John Girman Minutes of General Meeting Tuesday, March 13, 2018 The meeting was called to order at 7:05 pm by President John Girman. The Pledge of Allegiance was observed. The Minutes of the Meeting: (February 13th) Were approved as reported. Members in attendance: 52 Treasurer s Report: Presented by Brian Clary was well received. He discussed the dollar amount of scholarship and raffle funds. He reminded us to pay our dues if we haven t already. New Members and Guests: None this evening. Birthdays: Brian Clary winner for March. Old Business: Clothing report to come from Mike Buegeleisen. New Business: Introduced by John Girman. Item 1: Announcement made regarding the passing of several members. Item 2: President John Girman announced the Early Ford V-8 Foundation is raffling a 2018 Ford F150 truck. Tickets are $100 each and they will only sell 1200 tickets. He has the applications available. Item 3: Dave Peterson discussed the upcoming V8 Swap Meet in May. Take flyers. Signup sheets at our April meeting. It s Free Pizza Night! Tours and Events: Rick Tamagno announced various events. See the newsletter for the latest on tours and events. Cars and Parts For Sale/Needed: Frank Wheeler needs a 35 pickup windshield hinge. Tech Tips: Jess Todd had a Top Loader transmission question. Tom Johnston suggested a person to call. Tech Tips and Information: None offered this meeting. Continued on Page 6

3 Henry s Farm Tractor, continued from Page 1 Page 3 company in the United States in The Ferguson-Sherman Corporation, located in Detroit, produced a plow with a Duplex Hitch system suitable for the Fordson line tractors. Ferguson came up with the idea of mounting the plow both low on the drawbar and up higher in a triangle arrangement. If the plow hit a rock underground the increased force would transfer onto the upper link point. That would force the front of the tractor down rather than up. He took the idea a step further adding a hydraulic mechanism to easily raise and lower the implements and automatically control the depth of the plow. He built a few of the tractors in England in partnership with David Brown Company but sales never took off. In 1938 Ferguson demonstrated his tractor to Henry on Fords Fairlane Estate Farm. Henry was so impressed with the demonstration he was back in the tractor business, with a handshake agreement to produce a Ford Ferguson tractor 9N (9 for 1939). The tractor was to have a 4 cylinder vertical engine with parts from the Ford V8. They used other car and truck parts where they could. It produced 17 HP on the drawbar and 23.5 HP on the belt in Nebraska tests. It was a small tractor that out plowed machines weighing far more. The hydraulic system made control of the implements precise and easy. Within months the Ford tractor, with the Ferguson Hitch System was at dealers. The tractor sold for $600, $100 more than the Allis Chalmers B or the Farmall A. Ford claimed their tractor could do more work. By 1942 the Ford Ferguson had captured 20% of the tractor market compared to IH s 40%. Ford Ferguson had reached 100,000 units in the field. The 2N (2 for 1942) was introduced because of the wartime shortages. The tractor was produced with steel wheels and without starter or generator to save on crucial materials. It wasn t long before copper and rubber were sufficient and most 2Ns were built with rubber tires, generator and starter. They were much the same as the 9N. Ferguson wanted to increase tractor production to a million tractors a year. A questionable accounting study, after Henry Ford s death, showed the company was losing money on the handshake deal with Ferguson. Henry Ford II announced 1947 was the last year of the agreement and another company was taking over the sales of the new Ford 8N. Ferguson sued for patent infringement in the amount of $350 million, and after years in court the settlement was for $9.25 million. Then Ferguson was manufacturing his own tractors that were appearing in American fields. By 1953 Harry Ferguson was suffering from bouts of depression and insomnia. He merged with Massey Harris in Massey-Ferguson had a significant position in the tractor market of the 20 th century. My Dad bought a used Harry Ferguson TO model (T) for Tractor (O) for overseas with a drag-box and a bucket. This was a hard-worker for building roads on our family Choose and Cut Christmas Tree Farm. We own the tractor today. As news commentator, the late Paul Harvey, would say Now you know the rest of the story. Sources: 1. A Tale of Two Henry s and Their Tractors, by Brian Witt. 2. Ford-Ferguson Tractors, by Bill Ganzel. 3. Classic Farm Tractors, by Robert N. Pripps. From Pam Johnston I m sorry to have to report that we have lost two lovely ladies who were long-time members of our club. Elizabeth (Beth) Carpenter passed away after an eleven-year bout with cancer. She and her husband Ted have been Ford enthusiasts for many years. She was a very devoted mother and grandmother who loved to sew many gorgeous quilts, some of which were given to some of our lucky members over the years. She will be missed by all who knew her. Eileen Rawson was a very sweet and knowledgeable lady who did a fantastic job as our Secretary for many years. Eileen and George were very dedicated members of our Redwood Empire Regional Group. Her job as club Secretary will be big shoes to fill as her meeting minutes were precise down to the last detail. We are looking forward to many more years enjoying the company of both Ted and George at our club functions.

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5 Page 5 For More Information Contact Rick Tamagno at April 1st 2nd 3rd 4th V8 Events Calendar Black Bart Tour May 4-5 Swap Meet, Golden Gate R.G Swap Meet at Petaluma Fairgrounds, Redwood Empire R.G Burney Falls Tour, Redwood Empire R.G. June GRAND NATIONAL MEET Dearborn, Michigan July 1 V-8 Picnic Redwood Empire RG - Williams, Todd 15 Skip Long Memorial Car Show Theresa Long August Welcome to Montana Fall 2018 National Driving Tour See National Website for details October 5-7 Miranda Gardens Tour - Trabucco November 4 Bean Bash at Beresford Park, San Mateo, Golden Gate R.G. TBD Turkey Trot Breakfast CARS AND CAFFEINE SUNDAYS Novato Vintage Oaks Shopping Center Santa Rosa Coddingtown by Starbucks Petaluma Washington Square Shopping Center (South) Rohnert Park Starbucks near Target Friday Night Cruise-in Big Boys Buns and Burgers Larkfield Shopping Center. May through September. 5-8pm Regional Events Calendar April 3 R.E.R.G. Board Meeting Barker s 7 Dragons Car Show at Sonoma Valley High School student parking lot. 8am to 2pm. Benefits SVHS Metal Shop--$20 pay at the gate 10 R.E.R.G. Monthly Meeting Round Table Pizza 14 Carrillo Redline Car Fest. Maria Carrillo High School info at Swap Meet Crusin North Car Club Santa Rosa Vets Building, 6am-noon info or May 4-5 Swap Meet and Toy Show. Golden Gate RG #1, 2151 Ferry Point, Alameda, Ca. Info Mark Strohecker or stroh32@hotmail.com 8 R.E.R.G. Monthly Meeting Round Table Pizza American Graffitti Petaluma 20 Swap Meet at Petaluma Fairgrounds, Redwood Empire R.G Burney Falls Tour, Redwood Empire R.G. Johnston 26 Car Show and Cruise-In-Sebastopol. info at sebastopolseniorcenter.org June 2 Downtown Lincoln Car Show Lincoln, Ca info Swap Meet at Gold Country Fairgrounds Auburn, Ca R.E.R.G. Board Meeting Barker s 12 R.E.R.G. Monthly Meeting Round Table Pizza 16 Fort Bragg Car Show North Coast Rodders- Downtown Fort Bragg 17 Julliard Park Car Show

6 Page 6 Minutes, continued from Page 2 Club Cars Driven to the Meeting: Dave Thomasson won $10 and donated it to the Scholarship Fund. Membership Attendance Drawing: Jan Kibler Not present to win. Carol s Carload of Fun: Carol Rasmussen had a card game for us and provided candy treats. Winner: Gloria McIntosh Scholarship Fund Raffle: Members raised $139 The meeting was adjourned at 7:48 pm. Report submitted by: John Thompson EARLY FORD V-8 FOUNDATION MUSEUM SNEAK PEEK AUBURN INDIANA SATURDAY, JUNE 9, :00 AM 5:00 PM: Museum open for touring SUNDAY, JUNE 10, :00 AM 5:00 PM: Museum open for touring 11:00 AM - 2:30 PM: Lunch* available 3:00 PM: Check in time at the Edward in Dearborn 5:00 9:00 PM: Early Registration for the meet at the Edward 5:00 9:00 PM: Operational Check Open at the Edward *Lunch: Pre-made sandwiches, salads, chips, drinks and dessert. Offered free of charge, but donations will be gratefully accepted. Reservations for lunch are required. Please call or info@fordv8foundation.org Auburn is three hours from Dearborn. If you are planning an overnight stay in Auburn, call for hotel information. Golden Gate Regional Group #1 SWAP MEET & TOY SHOW May Ferry Point #77, Alameda Apr 01 Jane Lester Apr 12 Sharon Lawson Info: Mark Strohecker Apr 03 Don Singleterry Apr 20 Kinnie Gallegos Or stroh32@hotmail.com Apr 05 Apr 08 Apr 08 Donna Simmons Pamela Cook Paul Marchand Apr 21 Apr 24 Apr 26 Kim Williams Darrel Billings Charlie Brown Apr 09 Shirley Pool-Smith

7 Page 7 Redwood Empire Regional Group # Officers President: John Girman (707) Vice President: Bill Crackbon (707) Secretary: Julie McLain/Charlene Trabucco (707) Treasurer: Brian Clary (707) Committee Members Tour Coordinator: Rick Tamagno (707) Swap Meet Chairman: Dave Peterson (707) Historian: Wayne Taylor/Mike Buegeleisen (707) Sunshine Lady: Pam Johnston (707) Newsletter Editor: John Thompson (707) Roster: Mike Buegeleisen (707) Club Clothing: Mike Buegeleisen (707) Board Members Charlene Trabucco, Steve McClain, Rick Tamagno, Sterling Cousins, Richard DeCroff, Ron Mollo, John Girman, Brian Clary, Bill Crackbon All Members are invited to attend the Board Meetings; call any of the above Board Members for dates, time and meeting place. Specialty Supplier of Engine Parts for Flathead Ford V8 including V8-60 info@reds-vintage-parts.com Fort Bragg, CA Red Hamilton MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION The membership dues to REDWOOD EMPIRE REGIONAL GROUP #27 are $20.00 per year (single or couple). You may sign up at a meeting or mail in your application (with a check) to the address on the form below. (You are required to be a member of the national Early Ford V8 Club, for membership information refer to : RERG #27 MEMBERSHIP FORM (mail to RERG #27 P.O. Box 3302, Santa Rosa, CA 95402) NAME Your Birth Date: Month Day SPOUSE Spouse Birth Date: Month Day Address City State Zip Phone Cell Ph # E Mail Early Ford V8 S You Own (Give Year, Model, Body Style and Engine Type) (Attach additional sheets with V8 information as needed)

8 John Thompson, Editor The Redwood Review 478 Woodley Place Santa Rosa, Ca Art: Ford Motor Company Service Bulletin, November 1936 REDWOOD EMPIRE RG # 27 IN SONOMA, MARIN & NAPA COUNTIES, APRIL 2018 Meetings are held on the 2nd Tuesday of every month at 7 PM at Round Table Pizza- Exit Hwy 12 & Stony Point Road to 2065 Occidental Road, Santa Rosa. All interested V8-ers are invited to attend! This newsletter is a monthly publication of Redwood Empire RG # 27 of the Early Ford V8 Club of America. Other Regional Groups may reprint material, provided proper credit is given.