A couple of weeks ago Canada’s largest farm equipment retail chain, Rocky Mountain Dealerships Inc., announced it had undergone yet another expansion and acquired two Manitoba ag equipment stores. These businesses had been operating under the name Murray’s Farm Supplies and are reported to have had revenues of about $15 million annually. The deal is […] Read more
One big dealer
Making a clean start to 2013
“A clean desk is the sign of a sick mind.” You’ve no-doubt seen those words printed on a coffee cup in someone’s office. It’s meant, of course, to mock the overachiever down the hall with the tidy workspace and allow us to feel better about on own disorganization. On the farm, the workshop is a […] Read more
Gravel road etiquette
If you live on a farm in Western Canada, odds are there is a gravel road going past your driveway. While gravel makes for a functional road surface, it’s a little hard on vehicles. Tires that log most of their miles on gravel don’t last as long as those run over pavement. Paint and windshields […] Read more
There’ll be smiles at good cheer among execs at the Big Three this Christmas
As the calendar is about to flip over to December, Christmas music is now playing everywhere and people are starting to think about the upcoming holiday and year end. Along with that comes the annual look back on the year that is quickly passing into history. For executives at the major farm equipment manufacturers, there’ll […] Read more
Used-tool fever
One thing is for sure: we gear heads love tools. Maybe it’s just a guy thing. It’s certainly a farmer thing. It’s hard not to notice that fact at auction sales when a bunch of farmers gather around a wagon loaded with the contents of someone else’s workshop. Everyone eagerly sifts through the pile of […] Read more
Belted ag tractors see use in the Antarctic
The thought of starting up a high-horsepower tractor during cold winter weather makes many Prairie farmers cringe, due to the higher risk of engine and transmission damage from reduced lubrication. But there are a select few ag tractors in the world that see nothing but cold weather operation, and they’re put to work on a […] Read more
Ontario show features demos
Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show, held near Woodstock in southern Ontario, puts emphasis on practical demonstrations
With over 700 exhibitors in a 50 acre outdoor park, Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show — held near Woodstock, Ont., on September 11, 12 and 13 this year — can certainly rival its western cousin, Canada’s Farm Progress Show, in scale. And while the Ontario show certainly hasn’t been around as long as the classic Regina event, […] Read moreOld IH pickup gets a makeover
I have been doing barnyard paint jobs for over 40 years,” says John Mikal, who, along with his family operates River View Farms north of Sundre, Alta. “I taught my son, so he does most of them now.” And one of the latest projects to come out the family’s “barnyard” painting program is this 1952 […] Read more
The Magnum turns 25
If something works for you, you stick with it. That seems to be the best explanation for the 25-year production run of Case IH’s line of Magnum tractors. The company is now celebrating that silver anniversary with a limited production run of 100 special edition tractors. Over the next few months, those 2013 model-year, 340, […] Read more
AGCO Plant
AGCO’s newly-expanded Jackson, MN, assembly plant is now home to mid-range Massey Ferguson and Challenger-brand tractor production
When Massey Ferguson had its near-death experience in the late 1980s, the Detroit-area production facility that built the bulk of its North American tractor models was permanently closed. After that, MF tractor assembly was relegated to plants in Europe; and its combine business was splintered off and sold to Western Combines Corp, which began building and marketing MF combine designs […] Read moreCyber-Savvy Farmer
