[Ford-ferguson] Deer Lake Hills Farm

[Jack Tractor]

I talked with a fellow recently who mentioned having worked in the fifties at Ford Tractor developing parts documentation. He
brought up Deer Lake Hills Farm, which is the first I heard of it. He mentioned something about ownership passing from Dearborn
Implement to Ford Tractor that I need to clarify.

He does not do email, so If I see him again maybe I can ask more questions. He started at Ford after WW2 so he was not likely much
involved with developing spare parts documentation for the 9N or 2N. Sounded like Ford had not been very proactive about informing
their employees just what the Ford Ferguson lawsuit was all about.

Looks like Ford Tractor had a dealership network in Cuba until after Castro came to power. I wonder what is the state of any
surviving Ford tractors there?

 “~ and a nice grouping of papers from the Ford proving grounds on Holcomb Road. This was officially called Deer Lake Hills Farm and
was part of the tractor division. There was over 500 acres of rolling land that stretched all the way back to the shores of Deer
Lake. According to a 1953 pamphlet printed for an employee family open house, “since opening in 1947, more than 2,000 farm equipment
sales and service personnel have been trained here. These in turn train dealers, salesmen, and others in the United States, Alaska,
Hawaii, Canada, Cuba and Mexico. Men from many countries of the world such as India, Australia, Argentina, Germany and Greece visit
this modern training site during the year.” The pamphlet goes on to list the many activities available on family day, such as
tractor rides, puppet and magic shows, farm implement demonstrations and even a spot to view the “live deer” held on the private
game reserve around the pond. What a rich source of information this is and we are grateful to Mr. Mann for his generous donation.”

http://www.clarkstonhistorical.org/newsletters/spring2006.pdf