Fed up of your beeping tractor? Meet the 'dead simple' tractor from Canada
Have you ever been driving your modern tractor down a country road only for it to stop dead, almost throwing you from the seat?
Or has limp mode ever forced you to leave the field with a job half done?
If you answered "yes" to both or either of those questions, you might just have a soft spot for the Ursa Ag range of reduced-tech tractors.
Price and simplicity are the two main reasons that people are interested in the Canadian-built Ursa Ag.
That's according to company owner Doug Wilson, who "stripped out all the electronics" when designing the Ursa Ag range, which includes 150hp, 180hp and 260hp tractors.
He said: "We kept it as simple as we could, to make it repairable by the average guy who is really sick of lights flashing, codes on the dash and limp mode.
"Anyone can really work on these; I haven't met a mechanic yet that can't fix something on here, most farmers can do it themselves. It's as dead simple as we could possibly make it.
"It's all mechanical, everything is a cable running to a valve; you pull a lever, it starts whatever you are trying to run," he explained.
Price
While most tractor manufacturers are investing time and money in autonomous and/or electric vehicles, Ursa Ag seems to have tapped into a niche in the market.
"We started Ursa Ag to help farmers find an affordable option for their tractor; prices had gotten out of control," Wilson said.
According to the Ursa Ag website, the 150hp model starts at CAD$129,900 (about €82,000).
The mid-range 180hp comes in just over €95,000, while the top-of-the-range 260hp version will set you back just over €127,000.
Wilson also claimed that his tractors come in at "less than half the price of the same size tractor" when compared to the less-expensive brands.
Ursa Ag has been in business for nine years now, but only started building tractors four years ago.
In that time, it has sold approximately 50 units, using a team of 20 tractor builders.
But Wilson is adamant that in the next 12 months his team will build another 50.
"It is a growth story at this point; if we could build more, we would sell more. We are working to grow our production capacity," he said.
When asked if his business plan is sustainable, Wilson left no doubt as to his commitment to the company: "We as a company have been around for quite some time and we plan on being around forever.
"I have kids that I want to see take over this some day.
"It's some thing we're very proud of and very happy to be doing. We're going to continue to do it for a long, long time," he said.
