"As far as I know it's the most complete collection of Ford tractors anywhere," says Palmer Fossum, Northfield, Minn., who not only has at least one of every model that Ford ever made between 1918 and 1960, but has also restored about half of the tractors to mint operating condition.
Fossum's collection even includes all the conversion kits ever offered for Ford tractors, as well as most of the implements, including 42 different plows.
"People come from all over the U.S. and Canada as well as foreign countries to see the collection," says Fossum. "I've always been interested in Ford tractors because my father owned them. He bought one of the first tractors made by Ford, the Fordson, first built in 1918. I have one just like it and I also still have my father's 8N. I started collecting literature on Ford tractors when I was just 11 years old. I started my collection with a 1924 Fordson model F and now have 72 tractors in all. I also try to collect a toy model of every tractor I own."
Fossum's tractors have been featured in several antique tractor books including "How To Restore Your Farm Tractors" by Robert N. Phipps (covers tractors built between 1914 and 1954) and "The American Tractor" by Randy Leffingwell. Leffingwell's book has an entire chapter on Fossum's collection and the cover shows one of his rarest tractors -a 1949 8Nconversion equipped with a flathead V-8 engine.
"About 150 8Ns with V-8's were made, but only 7 or 8 are still known to be in existance," says Fossum. "The V-8 powered 8N was designed as a portable power unit for operating irrigation pumps, genera-tors, backhoes, etc. The engine was too powerful for the rear end and, differential which is one reason there are so few of these models left. The engine was rated at 100 hp, but the rear end and differential were rated at only 30 hp. The muffler originally curved down under the tractor. I replaced it with a pair of vertical straight pipes that make it more attractive and give it a smoother sound."
According to Fossum, conversion kit tractors are fast becoming collector items. Conversion kits were designed to boost horsepower by adding more cylinders to the original engine. Fossum's V-8 kit converted a 4-cylinder engine to 8-cylinders. "It made a big tractor out of a small one. I also have three models with the 6-cylinder flathead conversion and two models of the 6 cylinder Valve-N-Head conversion which came out in 1955. The conversion kits were made by Funks Aviation, Coffeyville, Kan."
Fossum's 1939 Ford-Ferguson 9N is another rare model. "It was the first tractor equipped with a 3-pt. hitch hydraulic lift system. Only 10,246 1939 9Ns were made, but I have four models with serial numbers under 1,000. Three of them have cast aluminum hoods of which only 650 were made.
"My 1942-45 war time models are also quite rare. Most of them are stripped down models equipped with steel wheels and a non-electric starting system because rubber and copper were rationed during the war. There was no starter, generator, or voltage regulator. All they had was a magneto with a hand crank. My Ford-Ferguson 2N is an example of a tractor built during the war."
Fossum is also proud of his Jubilees which were made in 1953 and 1954. They were equipped with a 4-cylinder, 32 hp engine.
He has one Jubilee equipped with a 6-cyl. conversion kit. Other rare models include a 501 Hi Crop Offset Ford Workmaster and a 2N equipped with a conversion kit called the "sugarcane and cotton special." It has only one front tire and high rear wheels with 9 by 40 tires that allow the tractor to fit between tall cultivated crops.
Fossum's goal is to collect one of each implement that was ever made for Ford tractors. "More than 20 implements were made for the 8N alone. Most were made by Dearborn Motors Corp., Ferguson Sherman Co., or various other small companies. Dearborn was a subsidiary of Ford. I have three Dearborn pull-type combines, a Dear-born motor-driven baler, and a Dearborn-Wood Brothers corn picker."
Possum also owns two Thiemann kit tractors which converted a Model A car to a tractor tha


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1992 - Volume #16, Issue #6