First Off The Line
This Minnesota farmer got the first Massey Fergsuon row-crop tractor bought and sold at the new Jackson plant.
Peters with his new MF8680
What a year it’s been for Tony Peters. His first child, a daughter named Elliana, was born, on Father’s Day, no less. “I couldn’t ask for anything better,” says the Sherburn, Minn. farmer. Another beginning took place just a few weeks earlier: He watched as his MF8680 rolled off the line at AGCO’s Jackson, Minn., manufacturing facility. It was the first Massey Ferguson® high-horsepower tractor to be built and sold locally at the plant.
“I watched everything from cabs being put on other tractors to the first time they fired up the engines,” recalls Peters. “I probably asked more questions than any ordinary guy, but everybody was just super to talk to, and real friendly.”
Peters farms about 500 acres of corn and beans, and does custom work, spreading about 10 million gallons of manure each year for some 14 customers. Prior to his new tractor, he owned an MF8480, which delivered “amazing” fuel efficiency and dependability, according to Peters, who works with Massey Ferguson dealer Van’s Implement in Hull, Iowa.
The new MF8680 performs even better, saving him as much as a gallon an hour. “When you’re saving an extra gallon an hour, and you put in maybe 12, even 16 hours a day, that’s huge,” he says. “Even with the cost of DEF, the savings are still there.”
The CVT not only helps save fuel, but also makes the tractor easier to drive. “With what they call pedal mode in my 8680, you pretty much drive it like a car,” he says. “In my opinion, the efficiency part is what’s going to make or break farming.” That’s a big reason why, says the new dad, “this tractor makes sense.”
Interested in a tour of AGCO’s Jackson plant? Visit www.intivitycenter.com.
