A fairly large museum, the Fort St. John North Peace Museum can keep one occupied for several hours. Wander about the grounds visiting historic buildings moved onsite and a plethora of machinery related to the oil and agricultural industries. One item impossible to miss is a 136 foot tall oil derrick which last worked 143 miles up the Alaska Highway.
Off in the northwest corner of Fort St. John's North Peace Museum, at the west end of a line of vintage buildings, is that
Everyman's Tractor, somewhat the worse for wear and now short of sufficient bits & pieces to make it complete.
This is a Fordson Model F, the tractor that spelled the death knell for many manufacturers in the 1920s. Ford's greatest advantages over the competition at the time were its large manufacturing capacity, its ability to mass produce on an assembly line, and the move to modular construction, doing away with the (unnecessary) frame of the tractor, its role being assumed by the engine, transmission and rear end in concert. These things resulted in Ford's being able to sell tractors at a price that the competition just couldn't match and make a profit. Ford sold 755,278 Model Fs from 1917 to 1928, more than any other tractor before or since.
The Fordson had a 251.3 ci(4.1 L) 20 hp (at 1,000 rpm), four cylinder gasoline/distillate engine and claimed 20 hp at the belt(tested at 22.28 hp) and 10 hp at the drawbar(tested at 12.325 hp). That power was transferred to the ground through a 3-speed constant mesh gear transmission - top speed in road gear: 7 Miles Per Hour. Early models employed a Hercules engine, which was replaced in 1920 by a nearly identical Ford built engine. This, a later model, had the Ford engine. Overall, the tractor weighed 2,920 lbs (1324 kg) and was rated as a two plow tractor.
The Fordson used a Buzz Box type of coil ignition, similar to that used in Ford's Model T, or a magneto ignition, depending on the year of manufacture. Unfortunately, the electrics are missing from this example.
The name Fordson was used for two reasons. The Ford Tractor name was already being used by a company in Minneapolis. In addition, the Ford Motor Company shareholders had no interest in tractor production, so Henry Ford started an independent company for building tractors, named Henry Ford & Son.