July 25, 2007

Challenger: Inspiring growth in new market

Alex Tountzis returned from a 2005 trip to the USA charged with a vision. During his visit, the 25 year-old contract tractor driver saw North American contractors in action, landforming with fleets of Challenger tracked tractors.

“One guy had five MT800B models working simultaneously. Some were hauling scrapers in tandem, two to a tractor. Given that the object is to move soil as quickly as possible, the efficiencies they achieved were incredible,” Alex said.

Alex has been driving tractors full-time since he was 14. He says there isn’t much he doesn’t know about different brands and capabilities, but the Challenger MT800B series is in a league of its own.

“Every boy’s dream,” he said, looking at the 460hp MT855B tractor he bought six months ago.

“It’s true, the Challenger was a big investment but this is my future. I’ve done my research and I’ve seen first-hand what these machines are capable of. Plus I’ve got the backup of the Challenger name and William Adams in Geelong.”

Alex started his own business, Landforming to Perfection, in early 2006 and has two full-time employees. They travel to wherever they are needed and Alex says the MT855B “flies along” with its 40kph roadspeed.

His Challenger tractor is equipped with a GPS guidance system and hauls a 3.6 metre JNR ejector scraper weighing in at 14 tonnes and reaching 30 tonnes fully loaded.

Alex plans to buy a second scraper soon. “We’ll load them one at a time and haul them tandem. The Challenger handles this tough work really well because the track system delivers so much more power to the drawbar – it’s far superior to a wheeled tractor of any kind,” he said. “You’ve got all the power you need and great traction in a sleek, compact unit. You can turn it in very small spaces. No chance of doing that with a wheeled tractor.”

He said the advantages of the Challenger/scraper combo were self-evident when compared with the alternatives of using an excavator and tip truck, or self-propelled scrapers. “It’s unbelievably efficient. The savings in fuel, time, wear-and-tear make it really worthwhile, and these savings and efficiencies are passed on to my customers.”

Country-wide, awareness of the need to defend land and crops against climate extremes has never been stronger. Auto-levelling and dam construction can provide the front-line of that defence.

Challenger Product Manager, Anthony Ryan, said more people are looking at land-shaping as a way of insuring against water scarcity and to achieve better general water management. He said the MT800B range, traditionally used for hauling big implements such as airseeders in broadacre farming, is well-suited to the growing landform market.

Alex Tountzis says, with his GPS guided Challenger tractor, JNR scraper and a nifty 12 tonne CAT excavator with grader, there is no job he can’t get into, whether lasering for drainage, flood irrigation or dams.

“The Challenger MT855B means we can deliver a high standard of work all year round. It gives us efficiency and abilities nothing else comes close to.”

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