Harry Ferguson and Henry Ford had one of the most famous partnerships in history. It was done with a handskake. Ferguson had built a couple prototype tractors with a 3 pt. He didn't have the manufacturing capabilty at the time to mass produce his tractors. Ford wanted a better tractor and was impressed with the Ferguson system. Henry Ford and Harry Ferguson had great mutual respect for each other. When Henry Ford Jr. took over control of Ford he copied the improved Ferguson system and installed it on the improved N series, the 8N. This resulted in one of the most famous lawsuits in history. The 8N and a similar Ferguson tractor of the same era each sold over 500,000 units. Ferguson was getting older and was looking for another manufacturer to purchase his company. Massey Harris came along and the rest is history. Massey Ferguson have been the best selling tractor line world wide since 1962. Largely in part to the 3 pt. hitch. Imagine if patents were good for life and only Massey had the 3 pt. hitch. I bet a lot of other tractor manufacturers would have gone under. Millions more tractors(of all makes) with a 3 pt. hitch have been sold than any other type. Harry Ferguson's idea is the single greatest innovation ever put on a tractor. Nothing else is even close. That's the facts. Ford didn't copy the 3 pt. hitch on the original 9N and then the 2N. They did copy the 3 pt. hydraulics for the new Ferguson and build the 8N to use them. This wasn't part of the agreement with Ferguson and he sued them. $10,000,000 was a drop in the bucket for Ford considering they sold over 500,000 8N's. Ford tractors after the 8N used a different hydraulic system than the copied one. The hyd's. on the 100 series Massey Ferguson tractors are the best system ever put on a tractor. Dave
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Today's Featured Article - Restoration Story: Fordson Major - by Anthony West. George bought his Fordson Major from a an implement sale about 18 years ago for £200.00 (UK). There is no known history regarding its origins or what service it had done, but the following work was undertaken alone to bring it up to show standard. From the engine number, it was found that this Major was produced late 1946. It was almost complete but had various parts that would definitely need replacing.
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