Several weeks ago someone asked who invented the three-point lift. Ferguson gets the credit for the system that ultimately worked, but he was not the first to use a system of attaching a tractor to a plow at three points. Several manufacturers in the early 1910's and into the 1920's had rear-mounted plows with mechanical lifts. Some of these plows were wheel-less (except for the land-wheel at the rear of the plow). Some of these tractors had power lifts. One source says that the London Motor Plow Co of Springfield, Ohio,in 1922 and 1923 was one of the last tractors on the market with a mounted plow until Harry Ferguson came along. The same source shows three models of Waterloo Boy (or close relative) tractors with rear-mounted wheel-less plows. Harry Ferguson was a Waterloo Boy/Overtime tractor distributor.The Reed One-Man Tractor from 1916 had a detachable plow that could get close to fences, back into corners, and could finish headlands. Another tractor was the Rock Island Heider. This company had at least two models with rear-mounted,wheel-less plows, with power lift. One model, which I have seen close up, was a 1920 model. This tractor had an attached mounted wheel-less plow. It had two lower links that attached the plow to the tractor; and it had one upper link that raised the plow. This was not Ferguson's three-point system with draft control, but it was a system that used three points to connect the plow to the tractor and raise the plow for transport. A 1919 Rock Island Heider ad shows the tractor and plow backed up to a fence in the corner of a field. The ad says that this one-man outfit with power lift was ideal for the smaller farms, can plow right up the the fence lines, back into the corners, and plow all the field. Ferguson didn't invent the concept of attaching a tractor to a plow at three points. However, he gets all the credit for making such a system work.
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