Fordson and Ford tractors three DVD bundle consisting of:
The Fordson Helping to Win Wars
The Fordson is the first in a three part tribute to the vast range of
Ford tractors built throughout the last 80 years. It tells the inspiring
story of Henry Ford's dream to remove the hard, manual labour of
farming from the shoulders of man and beast and place it fair and square
on metal, oil and wheels, utilising the new technology of mass
production on his revolutionary design of lightweight tractors.
We demonstrate the complete range of Fordsons with the aid of Bill
Kemball's comprehensive collection kept at Bentwaters Parks in Suffolk.
Along with extensive footage, both old and new, of working machines and
fascinating stories from a former Land Girl reminiscing about her days
driving Fordsons in the war, a Sussex farmer still using three Fordsons
on his farm today and Mr Kemball giving us a personal insight into the
history of his very special collection.
The Fordson's are the tractors that not only helped win wars but also
won a place in the hearts of thousands of farmers in the UK and
throughout the world - this programme is their story...
The Future with Ford
The future with Ford in the 1950s was still emphatically with the
Fordson, but the New Major was a great improvement over its E27N
predecessor. In volume two we chart the development of the E1A range
into the Power and Super Major plus the introduction of the Dexta and
Super Dexta. The big change though, came in 1964.
With the move of production from Dagenham to a new site at Basildon came
a whole range of new models that would form the basis for successful
Ford tractor models into the 1990s.
We see how the original 6X four model line-up developed into the Ford
Force machines, which helped retain Ford's position as the best selling
tractor make in the UK. Later the 600 and 700 Series tractors replaced
the Ford Force models building on their success and were followed by the
high horsepower TW and FW acre eaters. This was indeed the golden age
of Ford tractors!
This programme also includes the various conversions based on Ford
tractors by the likes of County, Northrop, Matbro, Roadless, Doe, and
Muir Hill and includes some rare archive footage in addition to today's
survivors shown working out in the fields.
We finish with the new range of tractors for the 1980's - the 10 Series
models. This comprehensive range of tractors would set the scene for the
next decade of tractor development.
New Horizons
New Horizons' picks up the story with the 10 Series, updated in 1985 to
the Force II Series, then the Generation III models, but the major
changes appear in 1991 and 1999 with company takeovers dictating the way
forward and today it's the blue tractors of Case New Holland that carry
on the line.
With the dawn of the eighties came the birth of a brand new range of
tractors for a Ford company at the height of their popularity, the
unmistakeable 10 Series. Their comprehensive line-up kept the Ford brand
at the forefront of both tractor design and technology. In 1985 Ford's
successful and dependable range was updated into the new Force II Series
pioneering the stylish Super Q cab, firmly establishing it as a force
to be reckoned with in the agricultural world.
The success of these beasts of the field gave rise to the commanding
presence of the Generation III models in 1989, leading the way in the
emergence of electronics. As the eighties gave way to the nineties
wholesale changes were on the horizon, when in 1991 Ford Tractor
Operations were taken over by an ever-expanding Fiat company.
New Horizons charts this amazing story from the birth of the 10 Series
right through to the last years of the Ford brand name and its
amalgamation into the New Holland era. We bring the majestic Ford
tractor story right up to date through fantastic footage of Ford and New
Holland machines out in the fields during this illustrious and exciting
time as the famous blue tractors embraced a completely New Horizon!