Ford Tractor O1

by Howard Roberts

Title

Ford Tractor O1

Artist

Howard Roberts

Medium

Photograph - Photograph

Description

Henry Ford was a powerhouse of an inventor, registering hundreds of patents during his lifetime. Many of his inventions were key to the transformation of American agriculture, but plenty of others never made it off the drawing board. One of these forgotten projects is a design for an adjustable height tractor.

The tractor was a narrow-front design that allowed for the independent raising and lowering of each of the rear wheels and the front end. The idea was to provide for maximum versatility in a tractor. When raised, the tractor would have the clearance necessary for cultivating crops. When lowered, drawbar strength increased. When plowing, the farmer could even adjust the rear wheels independently of one another to level out the tractor as it drove in the furrow. Ford also mentioned that the narrow front axle could be replaced with a conventional axle when needed.

Ford applied for the patent in 1939, and it was awarded in 1941. No doubt wartime rationing and shortages limited Ford from working out the kinks in his design. Once the war was over, Ford’s tractors were in such high demand that he could sell on reliability alone – no need for special projects like this to boost sales.

Uploaded

June 29th, 2016

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