First of three stories.

There are no oversized tires, chugging diesel engines or agricultural implements slicing through an open field of soil, but many of the 285 Farmtrac tractor retailers across America and Canada are slowly and surely being financially plowed under by a once-reputable Tarboro company that was internally gutted.

The Jan. 18 closing of Farmtrac North America's assembly and headquarters buildings at 111 Fairview Drive, and an Edgecombe County Superior Court ruling in late February to place the troubled firm into receivership are chronological benchmarks of the firm’s demise.

Receivership is a measure taken only when a company cannot afford filing bankruptcy.

According to court documents, the six-decade old tractor manufacturer has more than $55 million in total liabilities.

Retailers aren't the only ones to meet the corporate plow; so have loyal Farmtrac employees and customers. Many of the nearly 180 plant workers are middle-aged or older and have worked at the Fairview Drive facility since founder William Long Sr. operated the business decades ago. More than 12,000 customers across North America chose Farmtrac tractors for quality and affordability since 1999.

Farmtrac dealers are possibly the hardest hit hard by the closing; tilled from seemingly every angle, then ground deep into the soil of business landscape.

Lines of blue tractors fill retailer lots with a brand of merchandise whose tarnished reputation, lack of comprehensive warranty, makeshift parts depot and pale discounts make for difficult sales. Reported grapplings between financier Textron Financial Corp. and dealers just shy of white-collar arm wrestling have also been an impediment.

Such is the plowshare of big business.

Many retailers would like to quickly be rid of the 2,800-plus blue tractors on dealer lots across North America and the accompanying headaches. About 960 units sit at headquarters in Tarboro.

"I don't want anything more to do with them," said the owner of one East Coast dealership. "I wish they were gone – for good."

An eastern Oklahoma retailer known as CHH on online bulletin board TractorByNet.com agrees: "I would rather sell this tractor at a huge discount and pay the floor plan company the difference to clear it."

But dealer efforts to get out from under existing units have been a slow, excruciating cross to bear. An ever-deepening quagmire, tractors have fallen severely below market value due to Farmtrac's terminal outlook, prompting speculative purchasers to hold out for fire sale closeouts.

Kallyn Wells and husband Darrell Wells of central Florida, owners of Southern Equipment Sales & Service, feel the squeeze of heightened – almost unrealistic – customer expectations. The pair has offered blue units to prospective buyers for $2,000 under invoice. Since January, all but one turned her down.

"They say 'Call me when you get zero percent financing, bigger discounts and a better warranty.'" The animated Wells exclaimed, "Heck, I am giving you a discount already – out of my own pocket!"