Appearing from behind a curtain and emerging through a mist, an M8 model appeared on either side of the stage to the applause of dealers along with a host of brand executives on hand to take part in the event.
Photo: Scott Garvey
Here’s how the stats on both new M8 models break down. The largest tractor gets a CVT transmission and both are powered by a 6.7 litre Cummins diesel.
Photo: Scott Garvey
The open-ended timeline behind Bob Hickey, president of Kubota Canada, shows how Kubota has moved ever closer to providing broad-acre farmers a full line of machinery. While none of the executives provided any hard and fast details about what may or may not come next, there was a lot of talk about allowing for future growth in the equipment line. That seems to suggest the M8s could eventually get bigger brothers.
Photo: Scott Garvey
A new M8 with one of the brand’s balers was in the field to demonstrate the tractors’ ability to connect with a variety of implements. Interestingly, the brand chose to use a baler model that isn’t yet available in North America, but it expected to be added to the company’s hay and forage product line as soon as this fall.
Photo: Scott Garvey
The M8s will be available with both a rigid mount and suspended front axle. The suspended axle option gets paired with a suspended cab feature to really smoothen out the ride.
Photo: Scott Garvey
The M77 loader is the factory-installed match for M8 tractors. It offers a shock-dampening feature, with accumulators that absorb shocks from rough terrain to carry the load smoothly, keeping the shocks felt by the operator to a minimum.
Photo: Scott Garvey
Topping out at 210 engine horsepower, the M8 brings the orange tractors up into the mid-horsepower category. That makes them contenders for a variety of field duties, including some tillage applications. Using this vertical tillage implement and a 16-row planter, marketing staff demonstrated the M8’s field capability.
Photo: Scott Garvey
In March, Kubota announced it would be introducing a higher-horsepower line of tractors. That announcement, however, was pretty short on specifics. The company said it would reveal more at an official launch later in the year. That happened at the end of July.
Kubota invited a group of dealers and members of the farm media to its headquarters in Grapevine, Texas, to see exactly what the new tractors were all about. The two M8s, the 190 horsepower M8-191 and 210 horsepower M8-211, now become the brand’s flagship models. It is yet another step for the brand toward its stated goal of being a full-line manufacturer and major global player in the ag machinery sector.
After the two M8 tractors took centre stage at their official unveiling, it was out to the field to actually see them at work. Here’s a look at the unveiling ceremony and what we saw in the field.
