HAVANA, N.D. – The first prototype pair of Fargo Tracks were installed on a Magnum belonging to Joe Breker, who runs a 2,500 acre farm near Havana.
Breker, whose brother is Eugene Breker of Fargo Products, installed the experimental tracks in May 2004. By September 2005, he had put 900 trouble-free hours on the set, mainly pulling his sprayer. His farm had nearly 900 millimetres of rain during the 2005 growing season, so the tracks were put to the test.
“I go straight through all the smaller potholes and sloughs without a second thought,” Breker said.
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“If the water is up to the front axle, I keep going. If the cattails and bulrushes look too tall, then I go around. The main thing is that I can keep my straight line in the field when I’m spraying. I very seldom had to steer around a slough and trample my crop. That’s the advantage you have with tracks.”
For 2005, Breker equipped a pull-type sprayer with the same 16-inch wide rubber belt. In the non-driven mode, the 252-inch-long belts run a horizontal configuration rather than a triangle.
He said his speed used to be limited to 14 or 16 km-h while spraying but now he regularly moves at 19 to 23 km-h and often 24 km-h with tracks on the sprayer and the tractor. The tracks eliminate the side wobble from the tractor and the sprayer while the boom stays level at 24 km-h.
When winter comes, Breker switches his Magnum back to the original rear tires and uses it as a chore tractor. He said it takes about half a day to make the switch.
“I tried the tracks in the winter once, but frozen turd lumps when it’s 10 below zero (-23 C) is not a good deal for rubber tracks. So now I put the rear tires on for winter. Also, I need the front wheel assist in the winter, so my gearing is wrong if I leave the tracks on.”
Breker admitted that, although his brother’s recommendation is to install smaller diameter front tires so his front and rear final drive ratios match, he doesn’t use the front assist until winter anyway so he leaves the higher profile front tires on all year long.
“About the only time I engage my front assist in the summer is when the water is nearing axle deep, and in those situations, there’s enough front tire slippage that the taller gearing doesn’t make any difference.”
