As the sector moves to high-tech, precision farming, Doug Wilson’s phone is ringing off the hook with farmers looking to manage their equipment costs and fix problems themselves.
Four years ago, his Bowden, Alta.-based parts and ag servicing outlet began putting together the Ursa 150: an all-mechanical tractor, which promises low-priced reliability, no computer codes to decipher and no need to wait before a farmer can tackle a breakdown.
“The idea resonates with a lot of people. We get a lot of communication from non-farmers who just say, ‘We love what you’re doing,'” said Wilson, who is fielding a flood of calls after the tractor was featured in farm publications this summer.
Along with suggestions to develop no-frill pickup trucks and basic home appliances, serious inquiries have come from as far away as South Africa for tractors that only require basic mechanical skill to fix. One unit shipped as far away as Florida.
Now Wilson is cautiously planning to streamline and steadily increase production — limited to about 50 units over the next year — at his shop, which currently employs 10 people.
He’s also contemplating the reasons behind the huge spike in interest.
“Technology has taken over,” said Wilson. “I often use the analogy that people are travelling at light speed, and technology has hit ludicrous speed and blown right by them.”
Today’s combines, tractors and seed drills are more powerful, wider and have higher capacity to cover huge fields more quickly. On-board satellite guidance systems and even drones offer pinpoint precision to cut down on wasted seed or fertilizer.
New machines are also much more complex, are generally higher-priced and often tied to manufacturers’ maintenance agreements that frustrate some agricultural producers.
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“We’re hooped on expensive tractors if you need a little more horsepower,” said cattle rancher Rudy Metsmaker, who bought one of the first Ursa models four years ago.
He said the low-tech Ursa is “like a tractor 40 years ago.” But it meets his needs at a price that makes sense on his 900-acre cow-calf operation near Rimbey, Alta.
He said new equipment is “probably worth the money,” but “we’ll feed the cows a bale of hay and do some raking [with the Ursa]. We just don’t need all that expensive stuff on it.”
Price was the initial problem when Wilson began drawing up his tractor. A client’s son was buying the family farm and was having trouble affording the equipment as well.
The result was a compilation of widely available new parts from other manufacturers, like the cab, chassis and manual transmission, with a rebuilt motor and some custom pieces to help fit it together.
Ursa’s 150-horsepower unit sells for $130,000, and a special order 260-horsepower model for $200,000. That works out to about $850 per horsepower unit in the first case — a metric last seen in tractor pricing a decade ago, said Wilson.
The tractors are too big for an acreage or hobby farm. Instead, they’re mostly used for general duty on cattle ranches or to move augers, though Wilson says several are being used for heavier field work.
The product comes as some farmers are seeking out older models that meet their needs.
Some producer groups are blaming high diesel prices, high interest rates and stalling commodity prices for a slowdown of new equipment sales this year. The Association of Equipment Manufacturers states Canadian tractor sales were 15 per cent lower this past September, with combine sales down 38 per cent.
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Olds, Alta.-area farmer Jason Jackson consciously runs a mix of new and older machinery — depending on need and cost — to grow wheat, oats, barley and fava beans.
Generally, he finds electronic components troublesome, so he prefers to keep older models running longer.
“I’m trying to keep going as long as I can,” Jackson said. “Some of the newer stuff, it’s a little tougher to work on. I’m a little more captive to the dealership.”
The yard at Medicine Hat Tractor Salvage shows row after row of parts stripped from farm machinery and for sale to ag producers. (Collin Gallant/CBC)
That’s a common approach, said Craig Barton, the manager of Medicine Hat Tractor Salvage — for small and mid-sized producers to keep older tractors “for around the yard.”
“You can get any mechanic to work on them, rebuild motors, rebuild transmissions and do it very cost effectively,” said Barton. “The big guys are the big guys, and they’re going to run newer equipment. The dealerships do a good job of servicing them, obviously, but there is a cost to that.”
Back in Bowden, Wilson said his company is still a regular ag service outlet with the goal to keep producers up and running, and he’s pleased his tractor fills a need in the market within that philosophy.
“I would love to sell a tractor and have it run for 10 years without breaking,” he said.
“That’s not realistic for any machine, but I would love to get there eventually.”
