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Challenger is an American brand of agricultural tractors. Created by
Caterpillar Inc. Caterpillar Inc. (stock symbol CAT) is an American ''Fortune'' 500 corporation and the world's largest construction-equipment manufacturer. In 2018, Caterpillar was ranked number 65 on the ''Fortune'' 500 list and number 238 on the Global ''Fo ...
in 1986, the brand was sold to
AGCO AGCO Corporation is an American agricultural machinery manufacturer founded in 1990 and with its headquarters in Duluth, Georgia, United States. AGCO designs, produces and sells tractors, combines, foragers, hay tools, self-propelled sprayers, ...
in 2002. Since then, Challenger tractors have been manufactured at the company's
Jackson, Minnesota Jackson is a city and county seat of Jackson County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 3,299 at the 2010 census. History Jackson was originally called Springfield, and under the latter name was laid out in 1856. A post office calle ...
facility.


Production models


Origins

The original model was the Challenger 65 featuring the Mobile-Trac System (MTS) consisting of rubber tracks and a suspension system. Although marketed as the world's first rubber-tracked agricultural tractor, a company using surplus equipment inspired by the design of military tanks had produced a considerable number of rubber tracked tank tractors. The MTS combined the flotation and traction of steel tracks with the versatility of rubber tires. The use of tracks gave the machines increased tractive performance compared to traditional four wheel drive tractors equipped with tires. The Challenger 65 began as a machine used primarily for heavy tillage.


Late 20th century

In 1995 Caterpillar introduced the first "row crop" tracked machines with the Challenger 35, 45 and 55. These machines ranged in power from 130 KW PTO to 168 KW and were designed to be used for a variety of tasks the larger machines could not. The Challenger tracked tractor was produced by Caterpillar at their
Dekalb, Illinois DeKalb ( ) is a city in DeKalb County, Illinois, United States. The population was 43,862 according to the 2010 census, up from 39,018 at the 2000 census. The city is named after decorated Franconian- French war hero Johann de Kalb, who died ...
location until the Challenger name and all of its associated agricultural assets were sold to AGCO.


Early 21st century

Since 2002, when the brand was purchased by
AGCO AGCO Corporation is an American agricultural machinery manufacturer founded in 1990 and with its headquarters in Duluth, Georgia, United States. AGCO designs, produces and sells tractors, combines, foragers, hay tools, self-propelled sprayers, ...
, Challenger tractors have been manufactured at the company's
Jackson, Minnesota Jackson is a city and county seat of Jackson County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 3,299 at the 2010 census. History Jackson was originally called Springfield, and under the latter name was laid out in 1856. A post office calle ...
facility. At the time AGCO purchased the Challenger brand most Challenger dealers were also Caterpillar construction equipment dealers. Although AGCO has shifted focus of the Challenger tractor to the agricultural market, the construction market is still an important sector for the tractors as AGCO still manufactures specially configured machines for use with pull-type earth moving equipment. The Caterpillar Challenger MT875B was the most powerful production tractor available during its span with engine power. In 2007, the MT875B broke the world record for most land
till image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...
ed in 24 hours with a custom-made,
disc harrow A disc harrow is a harrow whose cutting edges are a row of concave metal discs, which may be scalloped or set at an oblique angle. It is an agricultural implement that is used to till the soil where crops are to be planted. It is also used to c ...
fabricated by Grégoire Besson. It tilled . The tractor consumed
diesel fuel Diesel fuel , also called diesel oil, is any liquid fuel specifically designed for use in a diesel engine, a type of internal combustion engine in which fuel ignition takes place without a spark as a result of compression of the inlet air and t ...
.


Current

The current production of Challenger tractors has expanded to include both tracked and wheeled type tractors. Both types are available in either row-crop or flotation type configurations depending upon the preference of the customer. Since their purchase in 2002, the Challenger brand has used a Caterpillar diesel engine in the majority of their models. However, with the introduction of the D series of each tractor model, AGCO began implementing the use of
AGCO Power AGCO Power (previously AGCO Sisu Power and Sisu Diesel) is a Finnish company and a subsidiary of US-based AGCO Corporation. The company, situated in Linnavuori, Nokia, Finland, manufactures diesel engines for various applications, such as agricul ...
branded engines that are Tier 4i/Stage 3B emission compliant by using e3, a
Selective Catalytic Reduction Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) is a means of converting nitrogen oxides, also referred to as with the aid of a catalyst into diatomic nitrogen (), and water (). A reductant, typically anhydrous ammonia (), aqueous ammonia (), or a urea () s ...
system which injects urea in engine's
exhaust gas Exhaust gas or flue gas is emitted as a result of the combustion of fuels such as natural gas, gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, fuel oil, biodiesel blends, or coal. According to the type of engine, it is discharged into the atmosphere through an ...
stream to reduce
nitrogen oxide Nitrogen oxide may refer to a binary compound of oxygen and nitrogen, or a mixture of such compounds: Charge-neutral *Nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen(II) oxide, or nitrogen monoxide *Nitrogen dioxide (), nitrogen(IV) oxide * Nitrogen trioxide (), or n ...
s and particulate matter emitted to the atmosphere.


Former Models


Current Models

* MT400B Series (discontinued) * MT400D Series (discontinued) * MT400E Series (utility) * MT500D Series (discontinued) * MT500E Series * MT600D Series (discontinued) * MT600E Series * MT700C Series (discontinued) * MT700D Series (discontinued) * MT700E Series (discontinued) * MT700 * MT800C Series (discontinued) * MT800E Series (2013-present) * MT900C Series (discontinued) * MT900E Series (discontinued) * MT1000 Series (2017-present)


References


External links

* https://www.grainews.ca/machinery-shop/how-engineers-developed-the-rubber-belted-tractor and https://www.grainews.ca/machinery-shop/how-engineers-invented-the-rubber-belted-tractor-for-ag
Challenger models by year
(on Tractordata)
Challenger AG USA

AGCO Corporation
{{Automotive industry in the United States AGCO Agricultural machinery manufacturers of the United States Tractor manufacturers of the United States