Big Equipment is back at old location in new building

Big Equipment is back, moving into its new building almost two years after the previous building burned down on Christmas Eve, and owner Ron Harmon has set his sights on addressing a growing issue in the agricultural industry.

"We want to be different," Ron Harmon said. "So when we burned to the ground, one of the things that I wanted to do with this facility is to change that perception and change that whole thing."

The new building is primarily office space with the work on equipment happening in the space it moved to after the facility burned down.

Big Equipment specializes in working on large farm equipment, especially Big Bud Tractors. Harmon bought the Havre-based Big Bud company in the 1970s, and continued the manufacture of the locally designed four-wheel drive articulated tractors.

That manufacture included building the biggest tractor in the world, the Big Bud 747, and another Big Bud upgraded by Big Equipment in 2014 became the second-biggest tractor in the world.

Big Bud closed in the 1980s after running into difficulties with its parts manufacturers, and Harmon later opened Big Equipment.

Christmas Eve 2017, the Big Equipment facility on U.S. Highway 87 south of its juncture with U.S. Highway 2 burned down and was a total loss.

Harmon relocated his offices in downtown Havre and found temporary space for the work on tractors, and last year construction for the new facility began in the previous location of the shop. 

The new building has some design changes that will allow the business to expand and provide much-better support to its customers, Harmon said. The dealership will mainly consist of offices, a parts department and a media center, while most of the rebuilds and other operations will take place at a secondary shop location located west of town. He added that it will provide a more-efficient work space. The new location will also be fully capable of expanding in the future if needed.

Harmon said one thing he had in mind when designing the new facility was constructing the media center. Equipment is becoming more technical and specialized and people need to know how to safely and properly use it, as well as what options are available to them, he said.

"We want to be not just another dealership," he said. "... We want to be customer-sensitive and equipment-sensitive for the customers' needs and that does not always mean new equipment; they do have an alternative."

Big Bud is world-famous for manufacturing the Big Bud 747 along with more than 500 other heavy-duty articulated tractors, most of which are still in use.

Big Equipment has contracted with Rome Industries to build new Big Bud tractors, Harmon said. Plans were put on hiatus after the fire, but a number of people are still interested in the possibility of bringing back the Big Bud. He said that in the next couple of years, people may see new models produced. He added that they will be produced by a different manufacture but it would still be a Big Bud.

The heart and soul behind the Big Bud is it doesn't have parts which are specialized or specific to the make and model; every piece and part is generic and manufactured so anyone can work on it, he said.

The key point is the Big Bud is adaptable and can be infinitely rebuilt, he said. It is something people are able to work on and repair without having to be certified by the manufacturer, he added.

"It means we don't run into obsolescence, it means it holds its resale value and it means that it gives the customer many options to upgrade and change components," he said.

That principle of the Big Bud is what he is carrying forward to his business, he said.

Major agricultural equipment companies have gone too far with making specific, specialized equipment only specialists can work on, he said. Producers are already struggling with poor market prices and a number of other factors within the industry and should not be forced to spend more or to wait for a certified technician to make repairs.

Harmon said he believes tractor manufacturers should go back to standardized components and tractors that anybody can fix.

He added that people's right to repair their own equipment has been lost over the past few years within the industry.

The customer needs options, he added. In the 1980s producers had a selection of approximately 20 different manufacturers; now they only have a selection of four. Harmon said people need more competition in the market to assure better equipment and services.

"There is something really really wrong with that," he said.

He said Big Equipment is a full-service business and wants to talk to people about their options before offering to sell them new equipment. He added that Big Equipment has a wide selection of used equipment that their staff has worked on; they can get any piece of old equipment operating at the capacity of some of the new equipment available.

It is important for the customer to assess their needs and understand that they can save money and time by understanding they don't always have to buy into the sales pitch, he said. 

He said some dealerships or shops hesitate working on equipment or modifying equipment because the changes are not listed in official maintenance procedures.  

"We are the opposite," he said. "... There's nothing sacred to us. Just because somebody built it that way, that doesn't mean that years later you can't improve upon it."  

He added that engines are engines, axles are axles, hydraulic systems are hydraulic systems - the equipment just has to fit the needs of owners and operate efficiently.