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To the South Pole by Massey Ferguson?
A team of adventurers is seeking to emulate Sir Edmund Hillary's 1958 feat of reaching the South Pole by tractorMove over Ice Road Truckers – here's an adventure to truly send a chill down your spine!
Dutch adventurer Manon 'Tractor Girl' Ossevoort (pictured) and her team will soon be setting out from Russia's Novolazarevskaya Station on a 5000 kilometre journey to the South Pole and back – by Massey Ferguson tractor.
Emulating the achievement of Kiwi explorer Sir Edmund Hillary, who made the first mechanised journey to the South Pole with a fleet of Ferguson TE20 tractors in 1958, the 2014 Massey Ferguson Antarctica2 mission will see lead driver Ossevoort and a support team retrace Sir Edmund's steps, this time using a Massey Ferguson MF 5610 tractor and customised Toyota HiLux 4WD support vehicles.
Manon is no stranger to tractor epics, having previously driven one from the Netherlands to South Africa, but for this somewhat chillier journey she's backed by an equally experienced support team. That team includes seasoned polar explorers Matty McNair (Expedition Lead Guide) and her daughter Sarah McNair-Landry (Expedition Guide and Audio-Visual Support), plus Nicolas Bachelet (Lead Mechanic) and Simon Foster (Creative Director and Audio-Visual Lead).
Expedition vehicle specialist Arctic Trucks will also be assisting, its Toyota HiLux 4WDs – one a 4x4 and one a jaw-dropping 6x6 – carrying crevasse rescue gear, food, communications equipment and camping equipment.
The tractor, meanwhile, was specially prepared by Massey Ferguson engineers at the manufacturer's Beauvais facility in France. It has undergone rigorous testing in Iceland and has been subjected to temperatures as low as minus 50 degrees C in a cold chamber.
Powered by a 110hp three-cylinder engine, the tractor runs Jet A1 fuel and has been fitted with Trelleborg tyres to cope with the deep, soft snow and rugged terrain. For an expedition of this nature the tyres were deemed more suitable than tracks because they afford higher speeds and better fuel economy, while also providing a measure of suspension.
During the gruelling test the tractor will reach an altitude of 3400 metres and will experience temperatures down to minus 40 degrees C. The engine is essentially in stock form but the tractor's cab, electrics, filtration system and air intake have been altered to withstand the freezing conditions.
The tractor will also feature a modified version of AGCO's AgCommandTM telematics system, which will allow a 24-hour support team back in Beauvais to monitor the vehicle's progress and analyse its fuel consumption, speed and oil temperature, among others.
The cold shouldn't prove an insurmountable challenge for the tractor; Massey Ferguson says its products are already subjected to equally harsh conditions on farms at the other end of the earth, inside the Arctic Circle.
As for Tractor Girl, she says the mission is the realisation of a life-long obsession.
"It was my dream to drive a tractor to the end of the world and I was inspired by Sir Edmund Hillary's mission," she said.
"I found that along the way my journey inspired other people to talk about their own dreams, so I set about collecting these dreams with the goal of taking them to the South Pole with me."
It has been 56 years since Sir Edmund made his historic journey and also 56 years since the birth of the Massey Ferguson brand, and according to Massey Ferguson, which is a part of the giant AGCO group of companies, this modern challenge represented a great opportunity to showcase its latest technology.
The Vice President and Managing Director for AGCO/Massey Ferguson Australia, Warwick McCormick, said the company was thrilled to be on board.
"Antarctica2 is a bold and exciting mission full of exceptional challenges and we are extremely proud to be part of it," he said.
The 2014 Massey Ferguson Antarctic2 expedition sets out in late November 2014 and – all things going well – is expected to reach the geographic South Pole in mid-December, before returning to the departure point via the same route.
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Written byRod Chapman
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Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
If the price does not contain the notation that it is "Drive Away", the price may not include additional costs, such as stamp duty and other government charges.
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