The Massey Ferguson 8S tractor was easily one of the stars at last week’s Morocco Desert Challenge. While that hulking behemoth’s blazing top speed of 80 km/h wasn’t going to win the race in the first place barring miraculous attrition, the sheer oddity of seeing a machine built for agriculture navigating the Moroccan dunes truly was something else.

Making it all the more impressive was the fact that it not only reached the finish, becoming what is believed to be the first tractor to complete a rally raid, but placed fourth in Truck.

Gilles Küffer, one of the masterminds behind the project, was proud to see it do exactly as advertised. In an interview on Wednesday with La Télé, he discussed converting the tractor from farming to rally, the reaction to it competing at the race, and its goals.

In particular, Küffer felt it was a perfect opportunity to show that AG mechanics were not as inferior as stereotyped. AG—agriculture—mechanics specialize in repairing and maintaining farm machinery like tractors and combines. Küffer’s company Küfferagri Sarl, which focuses on fixing such equipment, obviously consists heavily of such personnel.

“We wanted to highlight the level of our profession,” he began. “There was often a view that the occupation, while not denigrated, was often underestimated compared to other mechanics. Here, we really got to showcase all our skills.”

Building the tractor took 40 days and over 2,500 of work hours. Küffer noted the biggest challenge was converting the one-man cockpit into one for two people. A roll cage also had to be implemented along with a central tire inflation system and hydraulics to change the wheels.

Seven mechanics and two apprentices from Küfferagri Sarl were involved with the project and went to Morocco to oversee the tractor.

Cédric Goumaz, a farmer and friend of Küffer who approached him with the idea of racing the tractor, raced the tractor with Frederic Drault as navigator. Competing in the Truck class, it was often one of the last vehicles to start each day.

With some of his classmates retiring due to mechanical trouble, Goumaz gradually ascended the order. Thus, while it typically finished each stage last or second-to-last of the eight Truck entrants, the tractor ended up placing fourth overall with a time of 69:35:56. A fourth in Stage 7 was also its best daily outing.

“The sand was tough. The conditions were really not easy. There was a lot of wind,” Küffer noted. “Everything we touched was full of sand. On the mechanical side, as soon as you have oil coming in contact with sand, everything gets complicated. It was tough, and the nights are very short.”

Despite the challenges, the MF 8S was also quickly a fan favorite that garnered attention in Morocco and online. Halfway through April, the most-read article here on 131 Off-Road is the pre-race story about the tractor.

“We thought there might be some feedback from the agricultural world, but it really made a bigger impact than that,” Küffer continued. “Even in the rally raid world, it really had a rather spectacular effect.

“People came over to look at the tractor, they asked a lot of questions, and they found the tractor to be, you could say, competitive and incredibly well-made.”

With the MDC out of the way, the tractor has returned to Switzerland where it will be on display at various exhibitions. Whether or not Goumaz enters it in other rallies is to be seen.

Maybe if Goumaz is bold enough and Küffer manages to master tractor R&D, he might think about returning to the Dakar Rally with the 8S.

Featured image credit: MF Desert Challenge