THE MUSTANG OF TRACTORS
BY JIM ALLEN
1972 FORD 8000
This 1972 Ford 8000 has an important job. It’s got grass duty at the WACO Air Museum, which is an operational grass airstrip in Troy, Ohio, and the old test facility for the Waco Aircraft Company (pronounced Wah-Ko, not Way- Ko as in Texas), which originally stood for Weaver Aircraft Company before being changed to Waco Aircraft Company. The air museum has several buildings with vintage aircraft and memorabilia. This tractor is an open station, wide-front Rowcrop model with Dual-Power. This tractor was designed to be loaded heavy. It could carry up to sixteen 100-lbs. suitcase weights on the front rack and up to twelve 100-lbs. weights on the rear wheels.
Ford Tractor Operations turned a major corner in 1968 when the new 8000 debuted. It replaced Ford’s first six-cylinder tractors, the 6000 and 6000 Commander (’61-’67), and did so in a big way. Significant resources were expended to make this a world-class, cutting-edge tractor. Ford’s ag operations were global in scope and, as much as possible, the tractor lineup was designed to be universal in most markets.