Harmon honored with Greytak Big Bud illustration

A Havre businessman and the legendary tractors his company has produced and rebuilt have been immortalized in a drawing by legendary local artist Don Greytak.

Ron Harmon, owner of Big Equipment Co. LLC, said he received the drawing of himself and all five models in series 1 through 4 and the largest tractor in the world, the Big Bud 747 manufactured in Havre in 1977, as a belated 70th birthday gift.

Harmon said he was "just about in tears" when he first caught a glimpse of the drawing in Greytak's studio.

"It was a very humbling experience," Harmon said.

The drawing was commissioned by Harmon's children Tim, Mike and Holly Harmon and Teri Haydon, along with Harmon's two sisters and his brother.

"They kept the secret right up until the day it was done and they wanted to show it," Ron Harmon said.

Harmon, who has Greytak artwork hanging in his office, said he was impressed with the attention to detail to all the distinct features of each tractor captured in the picture.

Tim Harmon said he thought up the idea for the drawing about three or four years ago.

Greytak said Tim Harmon approached him late last fall to do the drawing, though Greytak at the time was busy.  

Greytak said once he found pictures of the tractors and got started on the drawing it took him about a month to complete it.

The drawing, about 28 inches by 21 inches, consists of Harmon standing in the foreground with four tractors representing four models of the company's 1 through 4 series behind him and the 747 is farther back.

The 747 is 14 feet tall and 22 feet wide, and was built in 1977 for a farmer in Bakersfield, California. In later years the one-of-a-kind tractor would go to Florida before returning to north-central Montana, when it was purchased by the Williams brothers out of Big Sandy. It is on loan to the Heartland Museum in Clarion, Iowa.

Harmon purchased Big Bud in 1974 from Bud Nelson and Wilbur Hensler. Harmon said during their time as owners Nelson and Hensler built 20 tractors, while Harmon ended up producing more than 500 while he has been at the helm of the company.

At first, Big Equipment continued producing Series 1 tractors, as it had. In 1976, the company produced their first Series 2, a 525 horsepower tractor. The third model, the Series 3, a 600 horsepower tractor in 1981, and then their Series 4, a 650 horsepower tractor, followed.

Harmon said at one point the company employed 200 people.

Harmon started custom building and rebuilding tractors in 1991 with Big Equipment.

Harmon said Rome Industries, a Farm Equipment manufacturer in Cedartown, Georgia, will start building new Big Bud tractors under contract with Big Equipment in 2018.

A limited number of signed 11x14 copies of the drawing will be on sale for $50 each starting sometime within the next 60 days. The drawings can be ordered through Big Equipment.