The Massey Ferguson 5610 tractor set to spearhead an expedition to the South Pole has touched down in the Antarctic.
Transported in a IL76 heavy-cargo aircraft, the tractor landed at Novo Runway from Cape Town, where it has been undergoing some final preparations for its polar adventure. The ambitious 5,000km Antarctica2 mission to reach the pole by tractor is scheduled to depart this weekend (November 22/23) depending on weather conditions.
The 2014 mission emulates the achievement of explorer Sir Edmund Hillary who led the first mechanised expedition to the South Pole in 1958 using a fleet of Ferguson TE20 tractors. On January 4, 1958, driving 28hp TE20 tractors, Hillary’s team became the first overland explorers to reach the South Pole since Captain Scott’s expedition in 1912.
“It’s wonderful to see the first pictures of our MF 5610 tractor in Antarctica, which will be its place of work for the next few weeks,” Massey Ferguson’s director for sales engineering and brand development, Campbell Scott, said. “The arrival of the MF 5610 at this time is highly appropriate as it coincides with the official birth of the Massey Ferguson brand name on November 19, 1957.
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“We’re really looking forward to the start of the mission and following the progress of the Antarctica2 expedition team as it makes its way to the geographical South Pole.”
Together with Massey Ferguson, which is supplying the tractor, Antarctica2 has enlisted the help of leading industry partners including Trelleborg, Castrol, Agco Finance, Agco Parts, Fuse Technologies and Mechatrac.
The team’s challenge can be followed at: www.masseyferguson.co.uk.
