Big Case tractors

[dodge man]

Saw this today on a construction site. Big tracked Case IH tractors pulling scraper pans. It used to be the tracked Challenger tractors doing this but lately it’s been tractors more like these . The building an area for staging and storage for a new power line project. I assume storm water detention is what the big hole is for. I believe there were 5 of these rigs running around.

 

[tacticalturnip]

I've seen that before, it's cool to see those large ag machines working in construction. Given their size and weight, they must do great pulling those scrapers.

 

[dodge man]

If you look in the first picture there is a wet area, I noticed them spinning a little in this area. It’s been very dry around here, I’m not sure what the plan was if we had a wet fall.

 

[oldnslo]

Case IH Quad tracs are real common in some areas and soil types. I think they make a scraper special model designed for pulling those.

 

[Hay Dude]

Saw this today on a construction site. Big tracked Case IH tractors pulling scraper pans. It used to be the tracked Challenger tractors doing this but lately it’s been tractors more like these . The building an area for staging and storage for a new power line project. I assume storm water detention is what the big hole is for. I believe there were 5 of these rigs running around.
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That’s because the Challenger line was discontinued about 4 years ago.
What AGCO has done is replaced them with Fendts.

 

[oldnslo]

Did AGCO ever make scraper models of twin tracks or was that discontinued when AGCO purchased challenger line from CAT?

 

[Hay Dude]

Yes. Here’s one with a CAT C-18 motor. It was just the opposite. When AGCO purchased Challenger from CAT, they only had the single track models. AGCO then created a dual track articulating model.

Case-IH has a big hold on my area, so about1/2 the pull-pans are pulled by Case-IH quad tracks. I also see Deere pulling lots of them.
Saw a few Challengers, but they had a bigger presence in other areas.

CAT really was rolling when they had AG tractors and even had trucks going back about 15+ years ago. Then they jumped out because they couldn’t make their engines meet the reliability-killing over-burdensome EPA regs.

image

 

[dodge man]

I did some topographic surveying in front Caterpillar plant when they first started making Challengers. I’m not even sure where it was, I was working for our Rockford Illinois office, it was maybe east of Rockford. That was the first I’d ever seen a tracked ag tractor. My memory was it was a smaller plant but they had a bunch of them outside, maybe this was late 80’s early 90’s.

 

[Engineer42]

We were using the Case Quads with scrapers in 2000. Had a serious undercarriage failure rate with the 440 model. It showed up new about a week before 9/11 at the new Catholic school on Rt 40. Front idlers would melt the shafts from bearing failures.

I think they improved it when they went to the 450. I believe we started with 2 used 9310's for proof of concept. A contractor in Southern PA was using Cases but with flotation singles. Trouble was that made the tractor wider than the scraper.

 

[oldnslo]

I did some topographic surveying in front Caterpillar plant when they first started making Challengers. I’m not even sure where it was, I was working for our Rockford Illinois office, it was maybe east of Rockford. That was the first I’d ever seen a tracked ag tractor. My memory was it was a smaller plant but they had a bunch of them outside, maybe this was late 80’s early 90’s.

Dekalb - sycamore Illinois was the challenger assembly plant that I knew of. There could have been others.

 

[dodge man]

Dekalb - sycamore Illinois was the challenger assembly plant that I knew of. There could have been others.

That sounds right, it seems like it was out in the middle of nowhere.

 

[MossRoad]

Saw this today on a construction site. Big tracked Case IH tractors pulling scraper pans. It used to be the tracked Challenger tractors doing this but lately it’s been tractors more like these . The building an area for staging and storage for a new power line project. I assume storm water detention is what the big hole is for. I believe there were 5 of these rigs running around.
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Yep. That's similar to what they did to level the ground for the battery plant and data centers going up near us.

 

[Hay Dude]

Dekalb - sycamore Illinois was the challenger assembly plant that I knew of. There could have been others.

That sounds right, it seems like it was out in the middle of nowhere.

They have a plant in MN and a plant in GA.
My big Challenger was made in Duluth, Georgia.
They also have the Hesston plant in Kansas.

My small Challenger was assembled in France, but has CAT 3056 American engine.

 

[oldnslo]

They have a plant in MN and a plant in GA.
My big Challenger was made in Duluth, Georgia.
They also have the Hesston plant in Kansas.


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My small Challenger was assembled in France, but has CAT 3056 American engine.

The CAT Challenger plant was in Dekalb - Sycamore , Il area. AGCO moved it to Jackson, MN when they purchased it.

 

[Dadah]

Saw this today on a construction site. Big tracked Case IH tractors pulling scraper pans. It used to be the tracked Challenger tractors doing this but lately it’s been tractors more like these . The building an area for staging and storage for a new power line project. I assume storm water detention is what the big hole is for. I believe there were 5 of these rigs running around.
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About 25 years ago while I was the project manager for Fire/Security, at our local Nissan Powertrain Assembly Plant, Turner Universal brought in several tractor to pull the pans where the plant was expanding. It was a 1mil sq ft expansion. None of use had ever seen this done and were amazed at what they did with this.

 

[dodge man]

About 25 years ago while I was the project manager for Fire/Security, at our local Nissan Powertrain Assembly Plant, Turner Universal brought in several tractor to pull the pans where the plant was expanding. It was a 1mil sq ft expansion. None of use had ever seen this done and were amazed at what they did with this.

Traditionally they used rubber tired scrappers and usually had a bigger dozer to help push them through the cut. This still happens today but it seems like less so. I think the longer the haul distances the better the rubber tires scrappers work.

 

[kenhar]

In central Arkansas we see all colors of tracked tractors pulling dirt pans. The rice farmers are always trying to level their fields. Imagine the difference in water amounts in a field a 1/4 mile wide with 6" difference in elevation.

 

[Torvy]

The CAT Challenger plant was in Dekalb - Sycamore , Il area. AGCO moved it to Jackson, MN when they purchased it.

Not much else in Jackson. A truck stop along I90. Been through there a lot.