Two-Tone Farm: Massey Ferguson + Challenger = Success

The Vossebelts have tried a variety of tractor colors on their Southern Alberta farm. There was the green of John Deere and the blue of New Holland. Then, a neighboring farmer and Massey Ferguson customer suggested they give AGCO equipment and local dealer Hanlon Ag a try.

“We wanted the latest and greatest … and Challenger and Massey were the fit for us,” says Delbert Vossebelt, who lists multiple track Challengers and an MF7620 in the family fleet. “By having those track machines, we can straddle four rows, and that eliminates us compacting the dirt between the potato rows as we’re harvesting. It’s really advantageous for us.”

The MF7620 is the family’s first Massey Ferguson, but has proved to be a valuable part of the operation. “We shred most of the potato vines before we harvest, and it’s perfect, that Massey on the vine shredder,” Delbert says. “Size-wise, it’s got enough horsepower to be able to pull the shredder without being too large and wasting diesel fuel. It’s a very good tractor.”

The AGCO CVT, or continuously variable transmission, that’s used in both Massey Ferguson and Challenger equipment was a major selling point for the Vossebelts. “It’s very fuel-efficient,” says Dwayne, Delbert’s brother. “We really like the CVT transmission too, because you’ve got such a wide range of speeds.”

“That’s important,” adds Delbert, “because when we’re harvesting potatoes, conditions change constantly. So you always are changing the speed of your equipment. And with the CVT transmission, you can pinpoint exactly what speed you need to be. The CVT transmission is a real asset on this farm.”

“Yeah, and operating [tractors] for so many hours of the day, cab comfort is really important to us too,” says Dwayne. “And the suspension on these machines is phenomenal. They’re so smooth. For a long day, it’s really important to us to have cab comfort.”

The switch to AGCO also brought another advantage to the Vossebelt operation. “Hanlon’s service is amazing,” says Delbert. “I could phone the service department, and those guys are there within an hour or so. I can’t stress enough how important that is, and [Hanlon] is always helping us out.”

Concludes Delbert: “We made a good decision by switching. In the future, we’ll definitely purchase more AGCO products.”

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