In Reply to: Re: Moto Tug Videos posted by Gaspump on December 08, 2009 at 13:19:28:
Hi John-
I would agree to everything except the plant om Telegraph Rd. I don't recall Ferguson having a plant on Telegraph, but maybe you know something I don't, it's just I never read anything about that. Did you mean Southfield Rd.? It is a fact that Ferguson and/or Kyes went scurrying for a plant to make a tractor when he was booted out of Ford, in November 1946, and one was purchased in Cleveland, Ohio. Realizing they would need another $8 million to tool up, they scrapped that idea and sold the plant at a slight profit. Ferguson was already making his TE20 in Coventry, England, and in January 1947, was importing them into the US. In January 1948, Ferguson bought a 72 acre parcel (on Southfield Rd.) to construct his assembly plant, Ferguson Park. The plant was completed in July and the first US built Fergie (TO20)rolled off the line in October. Meanwhile his lawsuit with Ford had already begun and would continue for several more years. You already know all of this I'm sure, but I would tend to think the Moto's were retro-fitted at the Rouge. Ferguson would have still been the distributor during the war years at Ford so if the Tugs carried a Ferguson tag then it was no more significant than a plow or cultivator, in my opinion. I just don't see Ford/Ferguson investing in a special plant to retro-fit 9Ns/2Ns especially for only 3000 or so units. I do see the sheet metal being stamped at the Rouge for the Tugs. I do see them doing a line chageover for maybe a week or two to produce the Tugs. It certainly would be more cost effective than shipping tractors and parts to another plant. It would be great to have concrete data on the exact production of the Tugs, but until evidence comes along this is what I'll believe. It's hard enough trying to decode N-Production as it is!
Respectfully
Tim Daley(MI)
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