Caterpillar - Finning Canada

PHOTOGRAPHY BY DUSTIN DELFShop in some conditions (because of) tire pressures.” And thememories of last fall’s rains and ruts remain painfully fresh.Wells wanted the horsepower kick the 865 delivers forstrong performance on a variety of tasks. “The Challenger canrun my grain cart, which means pulling about 60 feet of equipment,”he says. “It can get over a lot of area in a short time.”And more acres per hour translate into improved productivity,Wells adds. “The tractor can move right along – it has a transportspeed of about 25 miles an hour. It’s practical to accessscattered areas, but can idle way down for seeding.”Options on Wells’ MT include 36 inch tracks, the extremebelt option and an Auto-Guide satellite navigation system.“You just punch in the co-ordinates and off it goes, perfectlystraight, all governed by the machine’s global positioning system,”he says. “All you have to do is turn it around at the endof a pass. There’s no overlap in seeding and therefore it’s morecost effective. You’re not wasting seed or fertilizer.” He alsoappreciates the easy-to-read display terminal located next tothe operator’s console. “It provides several types of informationon the tractor’s performance including the hydraulics,GPS system, power demands and fuel consumption right infront of your eyes like a TV screen. It’s a very useful tool.”The other part of this field test is dealer commitment. Wellssays Finning (Canada) has re-invigorated its commitment toagricultural equipment in the region.“The equipment has to be out in the marketplace for thelong-term and that’s happening now and I think the productquality’s certainly there,” he says. “[The Finning rep] has beenreally excellent and we’ve been very happy with the serviceback-up,” Wells adds. “He’s looked after our best interests andunderstands what we want.”Go AnywhereThe MT, in the MT 800 series of Challenger tractors, standsfor multi terrain. Equally apt is multi-talented. Plowing windwhippednorthern Alberta snow isn’t the number one designpurpose for the MT 865. But with grain fields firmly underwinter’s grip, the machine demonstrated that versatility thiswinter. “We put a 14 foot blade on it and it worked really wellaround the farm yard,” says Jerry Mazurek. For the comingsummer, he’s confident the tractor will prove its mettle in thefield with more conventional tasks, including pulling a trailerwith a 57-foot Flexicoil air drill.With his father, Mazurek operates the family farm atEaglesham, about half way between Grande Prairie andPeace River. The grain producing operation, covering an areaof 2,700 acres, has come a long way since the family firsthomesteaded the area in 1939.“Today, there’s pressure in the grain industry to get out in thefields earlier each spring,” Mazurek explains. “At that time(in the spring), we need to keep our soil compaction levelsdown so we chose this tracked machine.” Three distincttypes of soil on the Mazurek farm compound the compactionchallenge. “We’ve got sandy soils, white clay and gumboand our operations are up to 15 miles apart,” he explains.“From what we’ve seen, we’ll get excellent flotation on allour soils with the Challenger.” Pulling power was anotherfactor in choosing the MT 865. Horsepower is needed to getthrough the area’s uncompromising gumbo terrain, Mazurekadds. Furthermore, he estimates fuel efficiency will improvewith less passes due to the larger size and capacity of theChallenger MT. “I feel the 865 can get the job done.”www.finning.ca Summer 2005 • TRACKS & TREADS 35