Fordson F 1918-1928

The arrival of the famous Fordson F in 1917 led to the demise of the Eros and thus a modified hitch was developed to allow the Ferguson plough to be used on this new tractor. The limitations of this design prompted the development of the new Ferguson plough with ‘DUPLEX’ hitch. This new design marked a major advance and quite clearly displays many aspects of what we now refer to as ‘three point linkage’.

Harry Ferguson’s plough for the Model T Ford Eros conversion was ready by December 1917 but at the same time Ford announced their intention to build a tractor plant in Cork. To fill the gap in production before the factory was ready they decided to import 6,000 Fordson F tractors from America.

At this time the Model F was the most widely used tractor after the Eros and was the first with a cast iron unit frame, a system soon adopted universally. At around 1.5 tonnes it was very light compared to most other tractors of the day and sold in Britain for £250, well below the Model T Ford and accompanying Eros conversion. The consequences of even more Ford Fs flooding the market were obvious for Ferguson’s plough (in fact approximately 750,000 of these Fordsons were sold worldwide between 1917-1928).

Harry always had the ability to turn a setback into an advantage and quickly sold his remaining stock of Eros ploughs. He then devoted his energy to designing a plough specifically for attaching to the Fordson F. The result was the “Duplex Hitch”. Its main advantage besides being comparatively light, was that if the plough struck an object which caused the tractor to stop, it was prevented from toppling backwards onto the driver. © Ferguson Family Museum: Fordson Model F

There is a detailed article on the Fordson Model F on the tractordata.com website with technical specifications, serial numbers, etc.

Other articles on the Fordson Model F can be found at;
https://www.lhf.org/2015/06/meet-the-fordson-f-tractor/
https://heritagemachines.com/guides/buying-guide/fordson-model-f/