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Producer fights the colour bar

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Published: July 31, 2008

LAKE PARK, Minn. – Like most farmers, Curt Nelson has a mix of colours in his implement lineup, but while his father still has an older red Versatile, Curt likes to keep all his tractors blue.

That created a problem three years ago when Nelson decided to add a tracked tractor to his 7,000 acre farm.

He wanted a Case International Quadtrac, but he wanted it to match his New Holland tractors that sport tires.

Nelson figured that the Case and New Holland tractors are identical and they all come down the same production line in Fargo, North Dakota, so buying a blue Quad should be as easy as punching a few keys on a computer.

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Nelson had toured the CNH factory in Fargo and his tour confirmed what he had already figured out.

“When they’re coming down the production line, it’s simply a matter of bolting the Quadtrac undercarriage to a blue TJ500 chassis. Everything fits into place perfectly. They just have to write up the work order for it, that’s all,” Nelson said.

“But they just refused. They said it can’t be done. So I kind of dug in my heels. I figure if I’m paying that kind of money for a new tractor, and it should easily be available in blue, then I want it to be blue.”

It became obvious to Nelson that CNH wasn’t going to budge. And neither was he. His next move was to visit the nearest Case IH dealer.

“I simply told them that I’ll buy their Quad, but it has to be New Holland blue and it has to have the correct New Holland decals. If you can’t sell me a blue Quad, I’ll just have to go and buy a green tractor. They make good tractors, too.

“So, here it is. I guess they bought a red Quad and painted it. They did a real good job and I think they used good paint. There’s no chips yet and I can’t find any red paint showing through anywhere. I’m happy.”

About the author

Ron Lyseng

Ron Lyseng

Western Producer

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