Sherman transmission

When was the first yr you could get a step up stepdown sherman in a n series.

Just a guess but I would think about '43/'44. Doesn't mean that you couldn't install one in an earlier model.

Thee early 9N tractor was the first to offer Sherman Auxiliary transmissions, with the Step-Up only at first, as early as 1940. Farmers wanted a faster gear for road speeds to get to and from their fields as quickly as possible. Step downs and combos came later. A Step Down is more valuable, and there is a Service Bulletin on how to convert a Step-Up to a Step-Down. When the FORD 8N Tractor was released in July, 1947, it now had a 4-speed transmission with the higher 4th gear for highway travel. The Sherman brothers, George and Eber, had been in business with Harry Ferguson once before, long before the 9N came out, and were once again partnered up with him in 1939 as the Ferguson-Sherman Manufacturing Corp; Detroit, Michigan. By 1941 they were tired of Fergusons BS, Eber resigned, and thus the Sherman Bros. split off on their own. They now supplied the aux transmissions, back hoes, FEL, and other parts targeting the Ford 9N specifically, including a High-Compression aluminum head. It didn't sell well, and soon was discontinued. Some are still around and I know of one guy who installed one on his 1940 9N and was not impressed and soon removed it. It now is hanging on his shop wall as a conversation piece.

SHERMAN HI-TORQUE ALUMINUM HEAD FOR THE FORD 9N:


Tim Daley(MI)

interesting. i would have never guessed sherman was in royal oak, now i'm curious to find out where in R.O. they were. gonna have to see if i can find an address.

To add to what has already been said, the Sherman transmission was never installed at the factory on the 9N/2N/8N. It was a dealer or owner installed accessory. Sometime in the 1950's it did become a factory option on the four speed transmission models only, along with a reversing transmission used mainly on loader tractors.

This is a long post, but I?ll try to explain as best as I can. Some history on The Sherman Mfg. Corp:
I was born in Detroit, Michigan, and our family moved to the northern suburb of Clawson, Michigan when I was 3. Hazel Park is another suburb of Detroit, a few miles southeast of Clawson. When the Sherman brothers broke off with Ferguson in 1941, they first opened shop in Hazel Park, on 9 Mile Rd. In 1946, Ford began planning for a new company to take over tractor and implement distribution as Harry Ferguson was fired by Henry Ford II. Dearborn Motors Corporation, Detroit 3, Michigan, was incorporated on January 1, 1947 and opened for business operating out of the Rouge Complex at first. In mid-to late 1949, FoMoCo moved Dearborn Motors out to ?the sticks? of Birmingham, as it and all the northern suburbs were then pretty much rural, wooded land. Birmingham is located two miles west of Clawson. Dearborn Motors was now located at 2500 E. Maple Rd, Birmingham, MI in a brand new building on a square mile of land. Also around this same time, the Sherman Bros. moved their business near there as well, a mile south. Like most cities, roads and boundaries are laid out in square miles, or half miles, in and around Detroit. It?s hard to get lost as almost every road is exactly one mile or a half mile apart, in all directions. The East/West running roads are numbered as such: 7 Mile Rd; 8 Mile Rd; 9 Mile Rd; etc. If you know the area of Hazel Park, Birmingham, Clawson, Troy, and Royal Oak, you will understand further. All of these cities bump borders. Some mile roads were given alternate names in some cities. Maple Rd. was also 15 Mile Rd. Birmingham was two miles west of Clawson with a portion of the city of Troy in between and Royal Oak to the south. The North/South running road of Coolidge Highway was the boundary between Birmingham and Troy. East of Coolidge, it was 15 Mile Rd. in Troy, west of Coolidge it was Maple Rd. thru Birmingham. Dearborn Motors owned a good mile square on the corner of Maple and Coolidge. They had a building out front with offices and a huge display showroom window which they?d highlight new models and implements in. As kids in the late 50?s and early 60?s, my Dad would take us there on Saturdays and drive up to the front and look at the new models on display. Anyway, the remaining portion of land behind the building was used as a testing ground. The land ran a mile south to 14 Mile Rd. At 14 Mile Rd. Coolidge Hwy. ended, sort of. You were now at the northern border of yet another Detroit suburb, Royal Oak. By turning west onto 14 Mile Rd. you immediately drove under the Grand Trunk Western Railroad trestle and a ? mile west, would pick up Coolidge Hwy. again that proceeded to traverse south again. It was at that juncture where The Sherman Manufacturing Corporation was now located at on the north side of 14 Mile Rd. after relocating from Hazel Park. Ford/Dearborn had sold a parcel track of land to the Shermans in which to build and operate their business from. Their building was directly west of the GTRR trestle on 14 Mile Rd. and that land was part of Royal Oak. Note the location of both Dearborn and the Sherman Bros. - they were very close to a railroad. Henry Ford owned a few railroads, shipped vehicles by rail, and was insistent that the new 9N tractor be designed so that 14 tractors could fit in a single boxcar for the purpose of efficient shipping. Around 1954, Dearborn became the Ford Tractor & Implement Division. They carried the same line from the same suppliers using the same model numbers, only now the ID TAG had FT&ID instead of Dearborn. In 1960, Sherman Mfg. Corporation was bought out by FORD, but retained the Sherman name and logo. The area of Coolidge and Maple is now filled with a shopping center, condos, and businesses. The former Sherman site on 14 Mile in Royal Oak too has new buildings and businesses in place. An interesting final side note, and I was not aware of it until one of my conversations with the late, great Harold Brock, in December, 2009. Mr. Brock had asked me where I lived. I told him, and added I grew up in Clawson, about 40 miles south of where I was currently living then. Harold told me then that Charles Sorenson, Fords RH Man in charge of all production, lived in Clawson on a 40 acre farm. Now, this was long before I was born and that farm was no doubt long since sold because in January, 1944, Sorenson told his boss, Henry Ford that he was going to Florida and not coming back. He had enough of Harry Bennet and Harry Ferguson and decided to just retire altogether.

SHERMAN MFG. CORP ?HAZEL PARK, MI AD:

SHERMAN MFG. CORP ?ROYAL OAK, MI AD:


Tim Daley(MI)

thanks, tim. i know (knew?) the building at 14 and coolidge well. a quick look tells me their facility in hazel park is long gone.