Editing Ford Model T (section)

===Diverse applications===
<gallery mode="packed" heights="160">
File:Model T tractor.png|A Model T [[Doodlebug tractor|homemade tractor]] pulling a plow
File:Pullford auto-to-tractor conversion advert 1918.png|Pullford auto-to-tractor conversion advertisement, 1918
File:Ford-American LaFrance 1919 Model-T firefighting vehicle.jpg|The American LaFrance company modified more than 900 Ford Model&nbsp;Ts to serve firefighters.
File:Section sanitaire automobile roumaine - Médiathèque de l'architecture et du patrimoine - AP62T123030.jpg|Romanian Model T "Regina Maria" ambulances, 1917
</gallery>
When the Model T was designed and introduced, the infrastructure of the world was quite different from today's. Pavement was a rarity except for sidewalks and a few big-city streets. (The meaning of the term "pavement" as opposed to "sidewalk" comes from that era, when streets and roads were generally dirt and sidewalks were a paved way to walk along them.) Agriculture was the occupation of many people. [[Power tool]]s were scarce outside factories, as were power sources for them; electrification, like pavement, was found usually only in larger towns. [[Rural electrification]] and motorized [[mechanization]] were embryonic in some regions and nonexistent in most. Henry Ford oversaw the requirements and design of the Model&nbsp;T based on contemporary realities. Consequently, the Model&nbsp;T was (intentionally) almost as much a tractor and [[portable engine]] as it was an automobile. It has always been well regarded for its all-terrain abilities and ruggedness. It could travel a rocky, muddy farm lane, cross a shallow stream, climb a steep hill, and be parked on the other side to have one of its wheels removed and a pulley fastened to the hub for a [[flat belt]] to drive a [[bucksaw]], [[threshing machine|thresher]], silo blower, conveyor for filling [[corn crib]]s or haylofts, [[baler]], water pump, electrical generator, and many other applications. One unique application of the Model&nbsp;T was shown in the October 1922 issue of ''Fordson Farmer'' magazine. It showed a minister who had transformed his Model&nbsp;T into a mobile church, complete with small organ.<ref>{{cite book|last=Casey|first=Robert|title=The Model T A Centennial History|url=https://archive.org/details/modeltcentennial0000case|url-access=registration|year=2008|publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Press|location=Baltimore|isbn=978-0-8018-8850-2|page=[https://archive.org/details/modeltcentennial0000case/page/148 148]}}</ref>

During this era, entire automobiles (including thousands of Model&nbsp;Ts) were hacked apart by their owners and reconfigured into custom machinery permanently dedicated to a purpose, such as [[Doodlebug tractor|homemade tractors]] and ice saws.<ref>{{cite web |title=1926 Ford Model T Ice Saw |url=http://owlshead.org/collections/detail/1926-ford-t-ice-saw |access-date=2012-12-24 |publisher=Owl's Head Transportation Museum |archive-date=July 31, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731165705/http://owlshead.org/collections/detail/1926-ford-t-ice-saw |url-status=dead }} Used for harvesting winter ice from ponds in [[Maine]].</ref> Dozens of [[aftermarket (automotive)|aftermarket]] companies sold [[prefabrication|prefab]] kits to facilitate the T's conversion from car to tractor.<ref name="PrippsMorland1993p28">{{Harvnb|Pripps|Morland|1993|p=28}}.</ref> The Model&nbsp;T had been around for a decade before the [[Fordson tractor]] became available (1917–18), and many Ts were converted for field use. (For example, [[Harry Ferguson]], later famous for his hitches and tractors, worked on Eros Model&nbsp;T tractor conversions before he worked with Fordsons and others.) During the next decade, Model&nbsp;T tractor conversion kits were harder to sell, as the Fordson and then the [[Farmall]] (1924), as well as other light and affordable tractors, served the farm market. But during the [[Great Depression|Depression]] (1930s), Model&nbsp;T tractor conversion kits had a resurgence, because by then used Model&nbsp;Ts and junkyard parts for them were plentiful and cheap.<ref name="Leffingwell2002pp43-51">{{Harvnb|Leffingwell|2002|pp=43–51}}.</ref>

Like many popular car engines of the era, the Model&nbsp;T engine was also used on home-built aircraft (such as the [[Pietenpol Sky Scout]]) and [[motorboat]]s.

During World War I, the Model T was heavily used by the [[Allies of World War I|Allies]] in different roles and configurations, such as [[staff car]]s, light cargo trucks, light [[van]]s, light patrol cars, [[Liaison officer|liaison]] vehicles and even as rail tractors. The [[ambulance]] version proved to be well-suited for use in the combat areas. The ambulances could carry three [[stretcher]] patients or four seated patients, and two others could sit with the driver. Besides those made in the United States, ambulance bodies were also made by {{ill|Carrosserie Kellner|de|Kellner Frères}} of [[Boulogne-Billancourt|Boulogne]], near [[Paris]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.landships.info/landships/softskin_articles.html?load=/landships/softskin_articles/Ford_T_Ambulance.html|title=Ford Model T Ambulance|website=landships.info|access-date=9 January 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/103172|title=Ford Model T Ambulance Manufactured during World War I, 1917|website=thehenryford.org}}</ref> The [[Romanian Army]] also made use of converted Model T ambulances. These ambulances, named "[[Marie of Romania|Regina Maria]]" ambulances, were capable of carrying four stretcher patients. Conversion work was done by the Leonida Workshops of [[Bucharest]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=141815951658112|title=Autosanitară "Regina Maria" pe șasiu de Ford Model T|publisher=[[National Military Museum, Romania|Muzeul Militar Național "Regele Ferdinand I"]]|language=ro|date=1 March 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://b365.ro/leonidaco-cum-a-fost-nimicit-un-imperiu-auto-cu-garaje-show-room-si-bloc-corporatist-pe-magheru-azi-extraordinarele-cladiri-de-patrimoniu-mor-sub-ochii-nostri-506915/|title=Leonida&Co – cum a fost nimicit un imperiu auto cu garaje, show-room și bloc corporatist pe Magheru|website=b365.ro|language=ro|date=7 June 2023}}</ref> An [[armored car (military)|armored-car]] variant (called the "[[Ford FT-B|FT-B]]") was developed in Poland in 1920 due to the high demand during the [[Polish-Soviet war]] in 1920.

Many Model Ts were converted into vehicles that could travel across heavy snows with kits on the rear wheels (sometimes with an extra pair of rear-mounted wheels and two sets of [[continuous track]] to mount on the now-tandemed rear wheels, essentially making it a [[half-track]]) and skis replacing the front wheels. They were popular for rural mail delivery for a time.  The common name for these conversions of cars and small trucks was "snowflyers". These vehicles were extremely popular in the northern reaches of Canada, where factories were set up to produce them.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yt8DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA878 |title=Snowflyers Replace Dogs in Frozen North |journal=Popular Mechanics |issue=December |year=1934 |page=878 |access-date=2012-12-24}}</ref>

A number of companies built Model&nbsp;T–based railcars.<ref name=mtfca_Model_T_railcar>{{cite web |publisher=Model&nbsp;T Ford Club of America |year=2011 |title=Model&nbsp;T Ford Forum: Forum 2011: Old Photo – Model&nbsp;T Rail Car |url=http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/179374/185052.html?1296125299 }}</ref> In ''[[The Great Railway Bazaar]]'', Paul Theroux mentions a rail journey in India on such a railcar. The [[New Zealand Railways Department]]'s [[NZR RM class (Model T Ford)|RM class]] included a few.

The American LaFrance company modified more than 900 Model Ts for use in firefighting, adding tanks, hoses, tools and a bell.<ref name=":1">{{cite web|url=https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/74384/|title=1926 Ford Model&nbsp;T Fire Truck – The Henry Ford|website=www.thehenryford.org|language=en|access-date=2018-06-19}}</ref>  Model&nbsp;T fire engines were in service in North America, Europe, and Australia.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Firefighting with Henry's Model&nbsp;T |last=Killen |first=William D. |date=2008 |publisher=W.D. Killen |isbn=9780615223032 |edition=1st |location=Church Hill, TN |oclc=318191997}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> A 1919 Model&nbsp;T equipped to fight chemical fires has been restored and is on display at the [[North Charleston Fire Museum]] in South Carolina.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.northcharlestonfiremuseum.org/collection.html |title=North Charleston Fire Museum|website=www.northcharlestonfiremuseum.org|language=en|access-date=2018-06-19}}</ref>