South African 4-WD Now On US Market

South African 4-WD Now On US Market TRACTORS New Tractors 19-4-23 In recent issues, FARM SHOW has featured two big new high horsepower U.S.-built tractors - the Cameco 805 (Vol. 19, No. 2) and the Titan (Vol. 18, No. 6). Now, there's another new entry into North America's big tractor market, the ACO 4-WD built in South Africa by a company started 10 years ago by a farmer named Alph Coetzer. The company started with a 320 hp model but now builds both smaller and larger tractors. Last spring, it received worldwide publicity when it built what's reported to be the world's biggest farm tractor (see sidebar). Since then, the company has established its first distributorship outside of South Africa in Australia, a dealership in Zimbabwe, and is now coming to North America. The first ACO tractor in this hemisphere will make its debut at Husker Harvest Days, Sept. 12 through 14, at Grand Island, Neb. "When you buy an ACO you're not buying a tractor for just yourself, you're buying a tractor for your son and your grand-son," Daan de Bruin, ACO's marketing manager, told FARM SHOW on a stop in Minnesota. "These tractors were overdesigned so that they're extremely low maintenance and get 25 to 30% better fuel efficiency than tractors with 70 hp smaller engines. It's a straightforward, user-friendly tractor that delivers maximum reliability and performance, as proven in governmental ag engineering tests as well as in everyday use by farmers." Coetzer built the first 320 hp tractor powered by a Mercedes-Benz V6 engine in 1985 because the Steigers he'd been using couldn't pull big rippers up to 40 in. deep, as required in the arid wheat-corn producing region where he lives. Coetzer's original tractor now has 30,000 virtually trouble-free hours on it, de Bruin notes. ACO plans to begin exporting the 490 and 610 hp 4-WD's in the next couple of months and will build the giant 821 hp tractor for anyone interested. Two Midwestern equipment dealers have already signed on. "Neither Deere, nor AGCO, nor Case-IH offer tractors in this power range. And no one offers them in our price range, which starts at $175,000," de Bruin says. "We might be able to sell only 10 tractors a year or we might be able to sell 500. We just don't know. "In South Africa, the 490 hp and 610 hp tractors are leaders among farmers who work more than 800 acres. One of their main tillage tools is a three-row ripper with two shanks per row. The 490 hp tractor will pull a ripper 30 to 40 in. deep at up to 6 mph., using just under 2 1/2 gal. of fuel per acre. It'll also easily pull a 39-ft. wide disk plow, another of South African farmers' main tillage tools. The 610 hp tractor is equally fuel efficient and will easily pull a 52 1/2-ft. wide disk plow." In South Africa, the 490 hp ACO is powered by a Mercedes-Benz V8 engine; the 610 with a Mercedes V10 engine. For the North American market, however, the tractors will be equipped with Cummins diesel engines of the same power rating. As in South Africa, the engines will be coupled with Twin Disc power-shift trans-missions offering 12 forward and four re-verse gears. The tractors feature heavy-duty Hungarian-built RABA front oscillating and rear fixed axles. The 610 hp tractor is fitted with 20.8 by 38 in. triples, the 490 hp with 20.8 by 38 triples or a combination of 20.8 by 38 in. and 18.4 by 38 in. triples. Both tractors have 370-gal. fuel tanks and weigh 48,500 lbs. Cabs are fully instrumented, sound-proofed and air conditioned. Prices are expected to be $175,000 and $210,000, respectively, plus shipping. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Daan de Bruin, ACO Marketing Manager, P.O. Box 1109, Bothaville, South Africa 9660 (ph, fax 27 565-2386).

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