Ford salesman and tractor reunited after almost 50 Years
If it's not blue, it won't do! Or so Jonathan Smyth discovered in his latest Times Past column, which recalls the Ford tractor and a retired salesman's encounter with the tractor he sold almost 50 years ago...
Tractors used in bygone days can look out of place on modern farms where behemoth sized machinery now roam the land. That said, both the small Fordson and Ferguson tractors played an important part in the modern mechanisation of Irish farms during the last century. Tractors last more years on a farm than a car will on the road, and I know of people still driving 32hp Fordson Dextas and Massey Ferguson 35s, which must be at least 60 years plus.
I have always preferred the older tractors myself and a favourite is the Fordson Dexta. A good friend, Norman Foster, was once the owner of Foster’s Farm Services, Cavan’s main Ford tractor dealership, officially appointed by Henry Ford and Sons of Cork. Norman still has a twinkle in his eyes whenever he hears tell of a tractor he sold decades ago. The Ford company played an enormous role in developing the tractor. Originally, known as a traction engine, tractor was derived from the Latin word ‘trahere,’ meaning to pull.
History
The Irish American manufacturer, Henry Ford, inventor of the Model T automobile, decided to invest in a traction engine for farmers to plough the land. He named the tractor company Fordson having started it with his sons. Henry believed it was a waste of a farmer’s hours and days, walking behind a team of horses when tilling the land. His tractor company, formed with his son Edsel, aimed to make low-cost, affordable tractors within reach of every farmer to buy. What is more, he did not consider it as a purely money-making venture. An early rival company in Minneapolis, Minnesota, had the audacity to use the name Ford for an inferior type of tractor. Thankfully, it quickly disappeared from use.
Henry Ford’s first attempted to design a tractor in 1907 and those early prototypes incorporated parts from his Model T car range. Having built around 50 experimentation tractors, they finally arrived at the correct design.
By 1915, Fordson's engineers created the Model F which looked more like the kind of tractor we all now recognise. During the First World War, America was selling a great deal of food to Europe, but the German U-boats sank many of those cargo ships. So, it fell to Britain and Ireland to find faster ways of carrying out tillage work and horses were not up to speed for the modern age when increased acreage was required for agricultural production.
From 1917, Henry Ford's tractor was considered a Godsend to farmers. The Fordson had the power of twenty horses. Its engine initially needed petrol to get it going and then you wound it up by crankshaft till it started and thereafter it ran on kerosene.
Both Fordson and Ferguson tractors were always popular choices amongst farmers. At one time, Henry Ford and Harry Ferguson agreed to co-operate on advancing tractor technology. Henry Ford's famed handshake agreement with Harry Ferguson would see the two men join forces to combine expertise but the partnership soured following Henry Ford senior’s retirement and an out of court settlement of $9.25 million brought the Ferguson-Ford association to an end.
On the family farm, where I grew up, my father originally had three Fordson Dextas. They were fine tractors and nifty. Norman Foster of the Ford dealership at Moynehall, Cavan, remembers calling out to service one of the Dextas. Having sold many tractors, he is now retired and often recalls stories about what he sold. He is familiar with all makes of Ford and Fordson tractors including the Fordson Major and its cousin, the larger Fordson County, a four wheel drive, favoured for working rough terrains and often used by Irish Forestry workers.
Wedding
At a recent wedding, in Cootehill, Norman received a call asking him to come around to St Michael’s Church and, to his surprise, he encountered a fully restored Ford tractor, originally sold by him back in the day. Speaking to Norman over the years, you could sense that he often wondered where the tractors ended up. Sometimes, he would say, he got talking to so and so and discovered an old tractor still on the go.
The bride's uncle, Brian McGahan, recently told me the story of how the Ford tractor and Norman were reunited. The tractor, he said, was a key feature of the wedding party's arrival for the marriage of Caroline Mullen, Drumrooghill, Cootehill and Mark Collins of Williamstown, Co. Galway, in St Michael's Church.
Brian recalled that, the vintage tractor, along with a second tractor, "arrived at St Michael's Church in Cootehill carrying the groom and groomsmen for the wedding of my niece.
The groom's father, Tom Collins, who is pictured with Mr Foster, was "the person who carefully restored the tractor and thought it would be a good idea to use it for the occasion of the wedding".
Tom’s vintage tractor is a Ford County 1164. From 1971 to 1976, County tractors were manufactured in Fleet, England.
Promotional material advertising the 1970s built tractor called it ‘a great tractor from the country – the 1164’ and speaking of its specification stated its merits to be: ‘Greater power from a Ford 6 cylinder tractor engine … greater fuel capacity tank 35 gallons … greater strength from a heavy duty 8 speed gearbox and front drive … greater comfort’ with a ‘roomy, soundproof cab, with splendid visibility … adding up to … greater output in less time and at lower cost.’
According to the company, the 1164 combined the gearbox and transmission ‘from the Ford 5000’ and the ‘engine from the Ford 8000.’
When Brian told the groom’s family about the retired Ford salesman from the Ballinagh Garage now living in Cootehill, he wondered if he might agree to stand in for a photograph. Norman was over the moon when he heard and recounted how the County 1164 was a state-of-the-art tractor during its day.
Years ago, in 1976, Tom Collins (the current owner) was a young truck driver who collected the tractor from Norman for the man he worked for. Eventually, he bought the tractor himself from his employer. Brian McGahan explained, how by coincidence, "Tom ended up buying it off his employer and then nearly fifty years later, brought it to Cootehill."
When I asked Brian about bringing the tractor and the salesman together again. Brian pauses for moment, before adding, "I just thought it would be a nice thing to include Norman."
Indeed, it was a kind gesture on Brian’s behalf.
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