My grandparents, Lee & Ruth Jackson

My family has been farming in Hodgeman County, Kansas since 1887 when my great-grandfather, Charles Jackson, homesteaded our farm. My Grandfather, Lee Jackson introduced the first tractor to the farm in 1923…and you guessed it…he chose a Fordson. For that reason, I’m certain God had it in his plan for me to inherit the love of “farm life” and “all farm equipment,” particularly older Ford tractors.

In 1982, I bought my first 8N Ford Tractor with Dearborn Loader, hung my shingle out, and got busy mowing, doing dirt work, and digging post holes.

During the next six years, I learned to love my 8N….except when I had to turn it. Lack of power steering was the sole reason I decided to sell my 8N and upgrade to a newer tractor with power steering. So the 8N was replaced by a blue Ford 4000. A tractor with wonderful power steering….and a big tractor to haul.

Lee, my son, had just turned nine. We were visiting the farm, in Kansas, when we ran across a 8N Ford Tractor that our friend had for sale.  I told my son that I thought we could make some money on the tractor if we took it back to Amarillo. So, we bought the tractor, hauled it to Amarillo, changed the oil, tuned it up, then sold it the next week for a handsome profit. Unknowingly, we had just stumbled upon a way to make money for college.

To make a long story short, eight years and over a hundred tractors later, my son went to college to become a mechanical engineer. As for me, I’ve had a number of accomplishments in life. But the one I’m most proud of is the quality time I spent with my son, giving him some mechanical experience, and doing it by working on tractors.

While owning the 8N, I had often thought about installing power steering on it.  And through the years, had made several unsuccessful attempts.  It was just a project that I couldn’t put away in my mind.   And I missed a tractor with a loader.  So I purchased a NAA with a very strong…but heavy Davis Loader.  I loved the tractor, but I couldn’t steer it with a load in the bucket.  

 In February of 1999, I decided to build a power steering unit for it.   I designed the power steering kit and installed the first one on my NAA.   The power steering worked remarkably well.  I was happy.  In December of 1999, my son-in-law, Chris Dunivan, who is a web master, saw and drove my NAA. He was so impressed, that he talked me into building power steering units for Ford tractors.  Needless to say, he and I spent the rest of the Christmas Vacation, huddled around the computer building a website for the steering business.  Jackson Power Steering was born.  The picture to the left is the actual first power steering kit for the Ford NAA.  Since that time the unit has been constantly improved due to customer feedback, which has been so valuable to me.