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Minot business adds Versatile equipment

A Versatile 610 is shown at Dakota Truck and Farm after the company added the equipment line in December. Attached is a 35-foot Fury disc. Submitted Photo

Clinton Burgardt, owner of Dakota Truck and Farm in Minot, has come a long way from the rural farm home he grew up in north of Garden City, Kan.

His father, Dennis Burgardt, grew up on a farm, then worked for a farmer prior to beginning his career as a tractor mechanic for CASE IH, where he worked for nearly 40 years. When he grew up, Clinton Burgardt worked as a diesel mechanic too, but his focus was on construction equipment. That is up until 2010, when he was approached by his father-in-law, Mike Hemphill, to move to Minot to take over the family business.

In 1997, Hemphill spearheaded the new business, Dakota Truck and Farm, to fill the needs of the truck and farm community in the area. The business was affiliated with the Goodyear Commercial Tire and Service Network and was a Goodyear Farm Tire dealer as well as an International Truck and Cummins dealer. Several tire lines were added over the years.

Clinton Burghardt learned the business from Hemphill before purchasing it from him on Jan. 1, 2016. He continued to strive to meet the needs of the area by adding Jet, US Cargo and Big Tex Trailers to the product line-up.

In 2020, the Versatile dealerships in Kenmare and Washburn both went out of business, leaving farmers and ranchers who owned Versatile equipment with no one to service their tractors. Burghardt was approached about becoming a Versatile dealer to help fill the gap.

Dakota Truck and Farm mechanics already had become proficient in working on Cummins engines, which make up the majority of engines built into International trucks. Versatile tractors are built with Cummins engines, and the service bays at Dakota Truck and Farm had been built large enough to accommodate the largest Versatile tractors. Combined with the multiple lines of tractor tires serving the farm and ranch community, it was a good fit to incorporate Versatile into the product line-up.

In December 2020, the first Versatile used tractor and a new Fury 35-foot disc were on Dakota Truck and Farm’s lot. The first new Versatile tractor arrived in February and was sold in March, leaving Dakota Truck and Farm with a CASE IH trade-in, bringing Burghardt full circle from his early days working with his dad on the farm.

Meanwhile, Dakota Truck and Farm continues to bring in additional tractors and implements. The business is in the process of establishing a separate sales location with more space to showcase the equipment.

Show Us Your Tractor

Do you have a favorite tractor, a brand new one or a shiny classic? Maybe it’s just a rusty heap that you can’t part with because it was grandfather’s pride and joy.

If so, please consider sharing a photo with the readers of Inside Ag. Please include information about yourself and the tractor.

You can email the photo to kolson@minotdailynews.com and we will consider it for our next publication.

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