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The concept of designing, building, and distributing a rugged, multi-purpose all terrain vehicle for this company dates back to the early 2000s. The founders involved with this endeavor were avid outdoorsmen, adventurers, and duck hunters. They were also skilled engineers, craftsmen, and fabricators with many of the resources in place to bring this idea to reality. After many discussions, late nights, and substantial research and development, it was decided to form a company and start production. In 2004 Hydratrek, LLC was established, and the first prototypes were constructed. These amphibious vehicles were rudimentary in the beginning having only the necessities to make it drive, float, and propel in water. Many qualified individuals with ATV and heavy equipment experience rigorously tested them in all types of terrains and situations. The company’s core values, focus, and determination to safely and effectively conquer remote environments were being etched in stone.
During the Hurricane Katrina devastation and flooding events, a new market for the Hydratrek amphibious vehicle was recognized. Not only can this vehicle be used for hunting, but it can also be used to save lives during natural disasters. The company brought in local fire chiefs, police directors, and emergency management personnel to evaluate the Hydratrek product and offer suggestions to make it more capable for search and rescue applications. The response was overwhelmingly positive and additional development was impelled into the 6×6 Hydratrek model.
A short time after these events, the Tennessee Valley Authority approached Hydratrek about the amphibious vehicle. High water and swamps immersed several of their utility line right-of-ways in Tennessee and Mississippi throughout much of the year. It was inefficient for them to continue using trucks and conventional ATVs to access these areas for annual inspections and maintenance. These interactions with TVA lead to the development of a rubber track system and the 8×8 model. A lighter footprint, more power and torque, and a larger payload are essential to meet the demands of transmission linemen.
With the continued interest from multiple industries, the management decided to incorporate the business, hire an active President & CEO, and develop a marketing strategy to sell and service the Hydratrek product line of amphibious vehicles. Since this time in 2009, the Hydratrek is being used by multiple end-users in the public safety, military, utility, oil & gas, forestry, survey, seismology, and recreational industries. The company’s global footprint is ever expanding, and there are more than 150 vehicles operating in 22 U.S. states, Canada, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Uganda, Russia, China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Australia, and Papua New Guinea.
On a daily basis, the management staff at Hydratrek, Inc. takes pride in their work and the Hydratrek vehicles. Much input from the client base has been taken into consideration and integrated into the latest production models. Today, the Hydratrek vehicles being produced are more powerful, rugged, and dependable than ever before. The experience gained from events such as the Mississippi River floods in 2010 & 2011, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf, the Exxon oil spill in Arkansas, Hurricane Sandy, Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, and all of the demonstrations in some of the toughest terrains on Earth have been invaluable for Hydratrek, Inc.’s continued commitment and dedication to these products and markets. The Hydratrek can safely and effectively get you there and get you back.
PFM Manufacturing, Inc. was founded by Patrick F. Miller Sr. as a Montana C-Corporation on September 1, 1998. “
PFM was successful in developing, patenting, and introducing the new Land Tamer® 6×6 ATV to fill a niche in the marketplace for a heavy-duty, low-impact, commercial grade amphibious all-terrain vehicle.
The Land Tamer® has vastly superior capabilities over the typical plastic recreational amphibious vehicles on the market, and it was found that referencing this superior vehicle as an “ATV” simply did not do justice to the Land Tamer® capabilities.
In 2005 the name “Remote Access Vehicle” (RAV) was chosen to differentiate the Land Tamer® from other less capable recreational vehicles. Coinciding with the new name reference were new design improvements and upgrades to the vehicle that made it even more capable and more versatile than ever before. The new 2005 Land Tamer® II RAV featured taller, more durable truck or Ag tires, higher ground clearance, larger cargo capacities, and a sealed hydraulic gear drive system. Other upgrades included a simple dual knob controller, and a more powerful, external mounted water propulsion system.
Over the past decade the Land Tamer has evolved to what is now the state of the art in amphibious vehicle design. The PFM Manufacturing Inc. has caught the attention of prime military contractors as a versatile robotic platform for various military and homeland security applications. Additionally, the Land Tamer can be found in other heavy duty working applications such as seismic, oil & gas exploration, mosquito control, and humanitarian demining world wide.
PFM Manufacturing, Inc. has become the leader of the heavy duty remote access amphibious vehicle market by providing a cost effective means of travel for the working outdoorsman.
