High power model | Agco boosts power with new 500 horsepower Fendt 1000 series
MARKTOBERDORF, Germany — Farmers have traditionally turned to articulated tractors when they needed to put power to the ground and into implements.
However, a new fixed frame tractor with a 500 horsepower engine is taking aim at that territory, as well as creating a powerful option for row-crop producers.
Agco’s Fendt line is better known in Europe than in North America. The tractors have long had suspended front axles and highly flexible platforms with power take-off at both ends
The new Fendt 1000 series beefs up its fixed frame stable of machines from 380 to 500 h.p. The 939 had previously been the company’s largest offering at 390 h.p.
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Ash Alt of Agco said the tractor was designed after consultation with producers who were looking for additional power but not necessarily the weight.
“It will need triples (tires) in many cases if you are going to be doing a lot of tillage,” he said.
“Where you are pulling seeding implements at one end of the season and grain carts at the other, it is a lot lighter and more efficient. It gives producers some more choices there.”
The machine is about 100 h.p. larger than the next tractor in its class. The New Holland T8 delivers 390 h.p., the Case IH Magnum kicks out 380 and Deere settles in at 370 with its 8 series, matching Agco’s Massey and Challenger machines.
The new Fendt tractor, with its higher horsepower MAN engines bolted to new, hefty, constant velocity transmission, is aimed at both sides of the agricultural tractor market: broad acre, small grains and row crops.
A 60 inch spacing means the machine is narrow enough for row crop production and for navigating tight yards with large manure tankers.
Peter Muller grows sugar beets, canola, corn and cereals on 1,200 acres in central Germany. He also provides custom tillage and grain hauling with a large commodity trailer.
He attended Fendt’s semi-annual field days near Wadenbrunn a couple weeks ago, where the public first saw the new, bigger Fendt tractor line. He braved the crowd of more than 40,000 farmers to spend time looking at the new machine up close.
He said the larger machines’ frame size, MAN engine and CVT transmission provide the additional power he feels he could use for tillage after his row crops.
“Also much better for hauling (trailers),” he said. “I think it is bigger than I need for planting, but I can save having a smaller tractor with one of these and do all of it. Maybe even too big for me, but still not too heavy, so I think it is a right move for Fendt and maybe for me.”
The 500 h.p. 1050 model weighs 31,000 pounds., compared to a similarly sized, articulated tractor that typically weighs 38,000 lb. without ballast.
The new Fendt retains most of the features of the model lines below it, including the ability to pick up and drop ballast on the front-end hitch.
Alt said the machine can make tight headland turns without disturbing a lot of soil.
“The light weight means the tractor is easier on the soil and the fuel bill,” he said.
The independent front suspension is set up around a double wishbone layout, which adds to the machine’s ability to corner and turn with limited soil ridging and handle road speeds.
The tractor’s suspension has automatic compensation for load shifting during turns when it is operated slower than 20 km-h. The function is locked off when speeds exceed 20 km-h, which keeps the unit stable for higher speed transportation between fields or when hauling grain or tanker carts.
The 12.4 litre, common rail, MAN engine comes from the commercial truck industry.
The 92.5 inch tires raise the tractor’s height, but the company has managed to set the cab and engine low enough in the frame to squeeze the machine under a 12 foot shed door.
Engineers also dropped the sight lines by adding 3.5 inches more glass at the bottom of the windshield and side windows. The operator’s door is also four inches wider than smaller models. A hood-mounted video camera allows the operator to look down at the front of the machine to the front p.t.o. and front hitch system.
An optional heated windshield is available for cold weather.
Reid Hamre of Agco said the North American market is making more demands of its tractors, including improving ride and operator comfort.
“Operator fatigue is now part of planning when it comes to farming more acres,” he said.
“The crop planting window hasn’t changed much. Where it’s tight, like in Western Canada, farmers need to keep fatigue to a minimum. Fendt has a reputation for quiet, comfortable cabs with good ergonomics.”
Built at the company’s plant in Marktoberdorf, Germany, the tractors have new CVTs built around a pair of pumps and an overall size increase of 20 percent. Sitting side by side on the factory floor, the transmission units easily stand out from the ones found in the 9 series models.
An optional, built-in tire pressure regulation through the company’s Variogrip system takes advantage of the available pulling power, the lighter gross weight in the field and the 60 km-h top speed.
The tractors will be available for the end of next season.
