In the late forties and early fifties my Grandad had the Ford dealership in Longview Washington. Grandad swore by the 8-N tractor and was selling them as fast as he could get them in. Then along came the big boys from Ferguson in Portland OR, who were trying to get a Ferguson dealership in the Longview area. So they setup a plowoff between the TO20 and the 8N Ford. They were going to have farmers from all over the area watch the Ferguson out plow the 8N. Well, the night before the contest my Grandad and his mechanic split the 8N and installed a Sherman under gear box in the Ford without drilling a hole for the handle to stick out. They had the Sherman in low gear. The next day when the Ferguson and Ford started plowing side by side, the Ferguson started to pull ahead of the Ford, Grandad cracked the throttle and shifted to second gear. He passed the Ferguson and threw dirt from his plow in front of the Ferguson. The Ferguson rep. was very upset to say the least. Grandad would not let anyone look at the Ford, and that night they pulled the Sherman and no one knew the real story until years later..
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