Cause of Big Equipment fire unknown

Havre Daily News staff

With the cause of the fire still unknown, Big Equipment Co. owner Ron Harmon said he still is planning on re-opening the 32-employee business.

Fire officials say the cause of the blaze that destroyed the Havre agricultural equipment business has yet to be determined.

The Christmas Eve fire was the largest fire Havre has responded to in 30 years, Assistant Fire Chief Kelly Jones said.

Jones said fighting the fire in the bitter cold — the low Dec. 24 was minus 5 at 11:46 p.m. and the high Christmas Day was minus 3 at 1:10 a.m. — caused $3,000 in damage to the department’s trucks and equipment, in addition to the damage to Big Equipment.

The Havre Fire Department was notified about the fire at 2:18 p.m. Dec. 24. Volunteer fire departments from the area responded as well, fighting through the night, and firefighters still were watching hot spots Christmas Day.

Harmon said he is setting up new office space and storage and work areas and will eventually decide where he will set up a permanent operation, whether rebuilding on the original site or relocating the operation.

The business has 26 full-time and six part-time employees.

Harmon said the loss is in the millions, but Big Equipment Co. was covered by insurance.

The business sells and services new and used equipment, including working on the world-famous Big Bud tractors.

In the 1970s, Harmon bought Big Bud, which was located where the Havre Torgerson’s LLC agricultural equipment dealership now is located at the junction of U.S. highways 2 and 87, and proceeded to build the largest tractor in the world, the Big Bud 747, along with hundreds of other fully articulated Big Bud tractors.

The tractors are known worldwide and often used in operations requiring heavy equipment such as mining.

After the company that made transmissions for the tractors was unable to deliver in 1984, Harmon resolved the business difficulties that problem caused. He eventually closed Big Bud and later opened its successor, Big Equipment, located a short distance south of the Big Bud location, at 1227 U.S. Highway 87.

One of Big Equipment’s specialties is working on Big Buds, customizing them to customers’ specifications. In 2014, Harmon’s company finished a seven-month job upgrading another Big Bud, turning it into the second-largest tractor in the world with a 950 horsepower engine and eight 3.5 by 6.5 foot tires.

The 1,100 horsepower 747, which stands 14 feet tall, is 20 feet long and 20 feet wide, returned to north-central Montana when the Williams Brothers of Big Sandy bought the tractor and used it on their farm.

The tractor is now on display in the Heartland Museum in Clarion, Iowa.

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Information from The Associated Press was used in this story.