diff --git a/lib/hydra/tasks.rb b/lib/hydra/tasks.rb
index ed28637..0265bb6 100644
--- a/lib/hydra/tasks.rb
+++ b/lib/hydra/tasks.rb
@@ -243,8 +243,9 @@ module Hydra #:nodoc:
     include Open3
     # Create a new hydra remote task with the given name.
     # The task will be named hydra:remote:<name>
-    def initialize(name)
+    def initialize(name, command=nil)
       @name = name
+      @command = command
       yield self if block_given?
       @config = find_config_file
       if @config
@@ -262,6 +263,7 @@ module Hydra #:nodoc:
         environment = config.fetch('environment') { 'test' }
         workers = config.fetch('workers') { [] }
         workers = workers.select{|w| w['type'] == 'ssh'}
+        @command = "RAILS_ENV=#{environment} rake #{@name}" unless @command
 
         $stdout.write "==== Hydra Running #{@name} ====\n"
         Thread.abort_on_exception = true
@@ -270,7 +272,7 @@ module Hydra #:nodoc:
         workers.each do |worker|
           @listeners << Thread.new do
             begin
-              @results[worker] = if run_task(worker, environment)
+              @results[worker] = if run_command(worker, @command)
                 "==== #{@name} passed on #{worker['connect']} ====\n"
               else
                 "==== #{@name} failed on #{worker['connect']} ====\nPlease see above for more details.\n"
@@ -286,13 +288,13 @@ module Hydra #:nodoc:
       end
     end
 
-    def run_task worker, environment
+    def run_command worker, command
       $stdout.write "==== Hydra Running #{@name} on #{worker['connect']} ====\n"
       ssh_opts = worker.fetch('ssh_opts') { '' }
       writer, reader, error = popen3("ssh -tt #{ssh_opts} #{worker['connect']} ")
       writer.write("cd #{worker['directory']}\n")
       writer.write "echo BEGIN HYDRA\n"
-      writer.write("RAILS_ENV=#{environment} rake #{@name}\n")
+      writer.write(command + "\r")
       writer.write "echo END HYDRA\n"
       writer.write("exit\n")
       writer.close
diff --git a/test/fixtures/task_test_config.yml b/test/fixtures/task_test_config.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..40e4050
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixtures/task_test_config.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+  workers:
+    - type: ssh
+      connect: localhost
+      directory: /tmp
+      runners: 1
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/task_test.rb b/test/task_test.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fc00be8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/task_test.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+require File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), 'test_helper')
+require 'hydra/tasks'
+require 'rake'
+
+class TaskTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
+  context "a task" do
+    should "execute the command in a remote machine" do
+      
+      File.delete( "/tmp/new_file" ) if File.exists? "/tmp/new_file"
+
+      Hydra::RemoteTask.new('cat:text_file', 'touch new_file') do |t|
+        t.config = "test/fixtures/task_test_config.yml"
+      end
+
+      Rake.application['hydra:remote:cat:text_file'].invoke
+
+      assert( File.exists? "/tmp/new_file" )
+      
+    end
+  end
+end