enry Ford's Model "T" provided dependable and affordable transportation to the masses. The Fordson Tractor supplied the same affordable dependability to the average farmer. 

Henry Ford had begun experimenting with a lightweight replacement for the horse as early as 1906. By 1914 (and on through the summer of 1915) experimental Model "T"- powered tractors could be found cultivating and harvesting on Ford lands around Fair Lane (The land around Fair Lane was  originally all called Ford Farms). In 1916, experimental Fordson Tractors, between five and six prototype styles, were built in Dearborn.  These prototypes were used on Ford Farms during the 1916 season. In 1917, 254 Fordson Tractors were produced. By 1920, the Ford Motor Company had taken over all tractor sales and the Fordson was being made at the Rouge Complex. Demand reached its peak in 1928 and manufacturing of the Fordson was discontinued in the United States.  

	A new phase of Ford tractor development took place at Fair Lane, when in 1938, experimental tractors were worked on, both at the garage level and in the northwest corner of the Experimental Laboratory Room. The Fordson Tractor currently on display, was a gift from the Fords to Mrs. Ford's
brother, H. H. Bryant, a Ford dealer and a part-time rancher in Idaho. The tractor is still operational. The original Fordson tractor plant of 1915 stood approximately where the Henry Ford Museum is today.