Page 339 - Peterson 85 Years and Going Strong

Top to bottom: Northwind front view; Northwind with Fassi Knuckleboom
system that operates three different ways. “Because what happens if they don’t have any power? How are they going to lift the hood?” says Bill Roberson (retired 2018), who did all the hood modifications. “We addressed that. All the trial-and-error it took us to get there was pretty phenomenal. I’m really proud of that hood lift system.”
Accessibility was a primary focus for the team throughout the project. “We were constant- ly thinking of the other guys who would have to work on these machines a thousand miles from nowhere, in eight feet of snow,” says Stubb. The knuckleboom cranes are a great example. The con- tractor specified Italian-made Fassi cranes because they wanted to standardize their fleet. The ones that came in, however, were built for the back of a truck like a roofing contractor might use. “I had a tough time getting the hydraulics on the crane to play nice with the hydraulics on the machine,” says
Stubb. “They were two different systems. Definite- ly not plug-n-play.” The quick, obvious place to in- stall the control valve would have been a big incon- venience for anyone working on the machine later. He ended up installing it in a place “the other guy” could access easily. “We wanted to make sure we got it right,” says Stubb, “because that’s a heckuva time to find out the seal isn’t right or something didn’t get tightened down enough, out there in the freezing cold.” Once the cranes were synchronized to the machine, the operator could lift loads from inside the cab, making life much easier out on the ice.
Many of the modifications came through group brainstorming sessions. The louvered belly pan vent system was one. Its purpose was to retain heat in the engine compartment during the night and ventilation for airflow during the day. To do that it had to be completely enclosed and sealed up. “Those trapdoors helped retain the heat so the engines would stay as warm as possible through the night,” says Frati. “In the morning, they let
NOT YOUR TYPICAL AG TRACTOR
The Challenger project was a big win for Peterson. “We sold nine Challenger tractors, which has had huge implications on Peterson’s ag market share,” says Duane Jr. “It has been a very high-profile project at AGCO.” It has also shown ag customers the lengths Peterson will go to help a customer. In November 2014, the Northwind went on display at the annual Linn County Ag Show. “It’s been quite an accomplishment to be able to say we literally built a tractor for the toughest environment on the planet,” says Duane Jr. “We had thousands of people coming into our booth saying, ‘What is this thing? It’s cool!’ And then next door, all the John Deere guys were saying, ‘What is that thing? That’s cool you guys can do that.’ ”
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