Oggun (pronounced oh-goon) may be an odd name for a tractor, but that's the latest entry into the market, originally designed for Cuba, made in Alabama, and resembling the Allis Chalmers G made in the 40's and 50's. Here's a link to their website: http://www.thinkoggun.com/.

The Oggun Tractor is the brainchild of the partners in Cleber, LLC, Horace Clemmons and Saul Berenthal, who had previosly owned a software company together. Berenthal left Cuba at the age of 16 and always had a dream of returning and starting a business there. When relations between the two countries started to warm late in 2014, he contacted his former partner to discuss fulfilling his vision and starting a software company in Cuba. Clemmons researched the potential and found that while Cuba isn't ready for computer software, what they do need are tractors, because of their aging Russian-made fleet and their newly-privatized small farms.

The first prototype was made in 2015 and this past week Clemons completed a trek across the mid section of the country promoting the concept. I caught up with him at a demonstration in the southwest part of Missouri and he told me the Oggun story.

Cubans actually provided the name for the tractor. Clemmons told me, "As our tractor defines the transition from livestock to mechanization we described it as the Iron Horse Tractor. While working in Cuba, the Cuban farmers had an idea for a name - Oggún, the mythical god for metalworks and protector of the people. And so, our Iron Horse Tractor is called Oggún."

The tractor is designed mainly for close-in cultivation of vegetable-type crops, but there will be finish mower and rotary cutter attachments available soon. It's powered by a Honda engine, has a three point and PTO, but it's only two wheel drive, and there is no loader available for it. It will sell for $12,500, and only directly to customers, there will be no dealer network. Parts for the tractor, though, are readily available and Clemmons says the design is so simple that people with even limited mechanical abilities and tools will be able to service it.

Long term plans are for the Oggun to be built and sold throughout the world and possibly morph in to a skid loader or utility vehicle. It's a new concept, a very unique business model and it will be interesting to see if the company has hit on a magic formula to reach farmers in Cuba and around the world with their new tractor concept.

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