Both machines are designed to provide a bump up in capability from the brand’s existing 3T line.

The machines weigh in at roughly 13,000 lb. (5,897 kg). The 4TS Teleskid version gets a lift height of 15 feet (4.5 metres). The 400T reaches 10 feet, three inches (3.1 metres). Lift capacity when the boom is retracted is just under 4,000 lb. (1,815 kg). The Teleskid can lift up to 1,878 lb. (852 kg) with the boom fully extended.

Power comes from a 4.4-litre diesel engine rated at 109 horsepower, placing it easily amoung the most powerful group of compact track loaders on the market so far.

These models get a redesigned chassis and expanded cooling pack to eliminate the need for auxiliary coolers, along with high-flow hydraulics capable of delivering over 40 g.p.m. (125 l/m) of flow at 4,000 p.s.i., which allows them to easily run attachments requiring power.

“With its advanced engine and hydraulic performance, it’s a true workhorse built for farmers and ranchers tackling the most challenging applications,” says Lee Tice, product manager for JCB North America.

JCB says the capabilities of its new models can eliminate the need for a separate loader tractor or telehandler in many situations.

With an overall height of six feet, 10 inches, much lower than a standard loader tractor, these machines can navigate tight spaces or enter barns and other buildings with limited access.

The 4TS uses a newly designed low-leak valve body that prevents boom drift even when the boom is fully extended, allowing it to hold its position for extended periods.

“The 4TS Teleskid bridges the gap between compact and capability,” says Tice. “It’s the ultimate all-in-one machine for farmers who need to get more done with less equipment.”

The post JCB releases new high-capacity compact track loaders appeared first on Grainews.

Tractors, drills and carts used during spring seeding all offer options to get through saturated soils. Big decisions will need to be made to address pest control mid-season, in regards to rate, chemical and application method. Heavy precipitation in the fall also has its own impacts on equipment.

Traction

For the seeding tractor, there’s the great debate: tracks versus tires. Tracks offer less soil compaction, to which wet soils are more prone than dry soils, largely due to the fact that their pounds per square inch (p.s.i.) to the ground is always constant, whereas with tires, the p.s.i. can fluctuate depending on how the tire is inflated.

There are also tradeoffs to each option. Tracks come at a higher upfront cost, will require more maintenance down the road and require more horsepower to operate, but do offer better traction and less slippage, extremely important in wet conditions. Tires are cheaper upfront but also can become very costly if a large tire finds an antler shed in the wrong spot. A tractor with tires will also have an easier time getting out of a very sticky situation. The operator has the option to articulate the machine back and forth to get out of a deeper wet spot. Tires also have an advantage in that you can put on more than one. Duals, triples or super singles significantly help flotation and traction compared to standard singles.

Digging in

The air drill has many options to help deal with a wet spring. High-flotation tires on newer models help keep the whole machine from digging into soft spots; mudscrapers help shed built-up soil from the packer tire to ensure proper seed and fertilizer placement, while also protecting against mud from pushing into the tube when the row units lift out of the ground; and aftermarket mud-special openers will further help keep the system plug-free.

One interesting newer aftermarket option is the blockage prevention system from AirGuard, based out of Abbotsford, B.C. The system removes humidity — always prevalent with a high-moisture environment — from the product delivery system on the drill. This helps prevent fertilizer buildup inside the primary and secondary hoses to keep them clean and clear.

Sectional control will get a workout but proves its worth during years with an above-normal amount of turning. The great debate of tracks versus tires can also apply to the non-drive tires on an air cart, liquid caddy or anhydrous ammonia tank.

Driving hacks

How you operate the equipment in wet conditions differs as well. More moisture means more potholes to drive around, meaning the operator will have to take over from the autosteer. Although it can be painful to give up acres, it can save a lot of headache and potential trips out of the cab to leave a little extra room around these low spots. Making a wider turn is easier than crawling on the ground unplugging openers with a screwdriver. If it is on the extreme end of moisture conditions, it may even make sense to plan to seed the field in a certain pattern to avoid high-moisture areas immediately after filling the air cart when the weight is at its highest.

All of these aftermarket additions and management practices help combat the tough conditions one is up against during a spring where it just won’t stop raining.

Pesticide under precipitation

Areas of higher precipitation in the mid-growing season also call for different choices in sprayers. The biggest decision, if rain continually persists, is whether to use the more common self-propelled sprayer or call in an aerial applicator. Never mind the drawback of trampling of the self-propelled sprayer; leaving ruts and compaction behind will further impact yield for the current year, and potentially in years to follow. Such potential yield loss may be enough to pay the extra cost of an aerial applicator. The downside is that typically everybody in the affected region is in the same situation, and the custom applicator can become booked up — not ideal when spray timing is crucial for many chemicals.

During these high-moisture years, one can expect to spend less on herbicide as the crop canopy tends to out-compete the weeds, especially with an effective first-pass herbicide. The same can be said for insecticides, as pest insects tend to be less of a concern with more precipitation. On the flipside, fungicides tend to be applied more often than typically expected. More moisture deep in the crop canopy makes for an ideal micro-environment for disease to flourish. Diseases such as aphanomyces root rot can claim up to 70 per cent of potential yield in wet years with little to no management practices to counteract the infection. Toward the end of the growing season, the use of a desiccant can be expected, as the plant stand will have trouble drying down to an acceptable harvest moisture level.

Humid harvests

Excessive moisture during the harvest season presents its own set of problems. The tracks versus tires debate can also extend to the combine. All the same theories apply to this machine but as it serves a different purpose, some attributes may be more important than others.

Flotation may be the most important factor for the combine. With the header and a loaded hopper, there can be a significant amount of weight on the front axle of the machine. Better flotation on the front axle means it will dig less into a low spot. That said, the combine is the least used of the large machinery on a farm, compared to the working hours of a tractor or self-propelled sprayer. That makes the higher upfront cost of tracks less attractive than duals or super-single tires.

The same can be said for the grain cart. Although more common to see with tracks, mainly due to the perception of even weight distribution, the decision to go with tracks, duals or super-singles on the grain cart depends on the mindset of the individual farm. Once the crop has been harvested, moisture can play a big factor on how that crop is handled and stored. The hours put on a grain bagger can vary year-to-year, especially if grain is coming off tough. It’s a risky gamble to put wet grain in a bag for any amount of time.

To help with higher-moisture grain, a grain dryer would help bring that moisture down to an acceptable level. Many farms in northern areas have had grain dryers for a generation — but in recent years farmers in more southern regions have started to see the benefit. A year with substantial moisture in the fall will quickly make a producer realize the value of a grain dryer — not only having the ability to take off tough grain but also being able to start harvest earlier, simply to be able to cover more acres in the season, make a grain dryer an essential part of the farm operation. There is also the ever-looming risk of frost when a crop takes longer to mature due to a higher-moisture environment. Although it has happened many times, it is also less common to get an extremely wet fall compared to the rest of the growing season.

In years when the rain tap just won’t shut off, it’s not just the big equipment that’s affected. Having top-quality, appropriately sized and fully-intact tow straps on hand will usually help get a piece of equipment out of a sticky situation more than a time or two. It’s important to inspect tow straps after each use for wear and any signs of fatigue. And as always, never use chains.

Also, washing equipment has never been more important with the risk and spread of clubroot. Ideally, washing down each piece of equipment between each field will be the best way to prevent spread of the disease, but at the very minimum, washing the tires with a bleach solution can also lower the risk. If tough conditions do persist throughout the year and ruts are left behind, they will need to be repaired before next seeding season. Depending on the severity, a smaller disc or vertical tillage implement will be the best solution, even if it does mean an extra pass.

Ultimately, an abundance of precipitation during the growing season can change the equipment and how it’s used on a farm to help deal with the hand Mother Nature has dealt.

This situation always brings up another hot topic: which is worse, too dry or too wet? A small farmer outside Saskatoon once shared this knowledge: “I’d rather have it be too dry — even if there’s no crop out there. At least I can still get in the field to harvest what is there. Being too wet means I can’t even get in the field, and if I can, I might break something when I get stuck, and that costs money.”

I tend to find if a producer has dealt with more drought, they’d rather have a flood, and vice versa — but how you adjust your equipment to deal with the conditions is in your hands.

The post How non-stop rain affects your farm equipment appeared first on Grainews.

Scott Shearer, chair of the department of food, agricultural and biological engineering at Ohio State University, spoke about the compaction consequences of supersized grain carts at the CropConnect 2025 conference held in Winnipeg in February and in a subsequent interview with Grainews.

“If we go back to, say, the 1990s, it was not uncommon to see farmers with 500- and 600-bushel grain carts,” he says. Shearer has witnessed a steady increase in size since then, with a 2,500-bushel grain cart the biggest one he’s seen.

“We’ve seen a trend for increasingly larger grain carts almost year after year. That’s what the manufacturers offer and that’s what the farmers buy and use. Then obviously, there are these grain carts that roll over in the used market and those are getting bigger, too.”

Field traffic from such massive machinery can cause soil compaction problems that may reduce yields for the following crop — and it’s one reason why there’s a growing movement toward track-equipped grain carts.

READ MORE: Keep tire pressure low, vigilance high

“I see a lot more coming out with tracks on them now than I do wheels, especially when you get into the very high-volume grain carts,” Shearer says.

Grain carts can still cause compaction and yield reduction regardless of whether they’re on tracks or wheels, but Shearer’s research at Ohio State indicates there may be less of a yield hit with tracks compared to wheels in unfavourable soil conditions.

Shearer noted farmers can now choose between multiple track options and tire technologies, such as IF (increased flexion) or VF (very high flexion) tires, to limit the impact of grain cart traffic — but he stresses “that does not eliminate the concern for compaction.

“I think it’s important to remind people that compaction occurs because of gross vehicle weight,” he says. “The higher the gross vehicle weight, the greater the concern.”

Shearer says he believes really large grain carts are likely the worst culprit for compaction damage from field equipment — describing the biggest ones as “phenomenal” compaction devices due to their sheer size and weight.

“It concerns me greatly because we’ve gotten up to 2,500 bushels on some of these larger grain carts. When you consider the base weight of the grain cart and then add 2,500 bushels at 60 pounds per bushel, it could be 95 tons.”

READ MORE: Farmers assess the effects of soil compaction

One way new track and tire technologies address compaction is by distributing all this weight over a broader surface area. However, Shearer says, this can lead to problems with compaction deeper down in the soil.

“If we look at track or tire soil contact pressures, they can be relatively low. But it’s the fact that you spread pressure out over a very large area that drives the compaction deeper into the soil,” he says.

“It used to be we were concerned about compaction that might have occurred 15 to 18 inches deep in the soil … If you get a wet harvest, we can see that compaction being driven down as deep as 30 to 40 inches,” Shearer says. “We’re probably starting to see an accumulation of that effect, as equipment continues to grow larger.”

Shearer suggests that’s likely a larger concern for farmers in his home state of Ohio than in the Prairie provinces, where deeper frost levels during winter can help mitigate compaction problems caused by farm machinery the previous season.

Chasing the combine

One important reason grain carts are getting larger is to increase the efficiency of harvesting operations — which is why you’ll often see grain carts following combines up and down the field, loading up with grain on the go in order to maximize harvest capacity.

And combine harvesters, Shearer notes, are also getting bigger and more powerful — some approaching 800 horsepower — which often means grain tanks on combines fill up faster and need to be emptied more frequently.

“With smaller grains with lower yields, you can probably go a little further between combine unloading,” Shearer says. “But at least here in the States, with high-yielding corn, it’s only going to take four minutes to fill the grain tank on the combine.”

When grain carts chase combines this way it can increase the compaction risk, he says, especially in soggy fields during difficult harvests.

“Generally, compaction is going to occur when the soils are wetter. If you have extremely dry soils, I don’t really care how big the grain cart is,” Shearer says. “Here in the States, we get into situations later in the fall when the soil profile begins wetting back up, and that’s when I really get concerned about large grain carts.”

Shearer says he understands sometimes farmers have no choice but to send out their combines and grain carts in tough harvest conditions, as there are always other considerations, such as a tight harvesting window or paying off end-of-year farms bills.

Those operating grain carts should try to stay on the same field tracks if they can, he says, as this can help mitigate compaction damage.

“If you decide not to go in the same track thinking you’re doing yourself a favour, what you’re really doing is more damage to a greater area of the field,” he says.

“What we have seen is when we make repeated passes on the same track, generally the first pass does about 85 per cent of the damage,” Shearer adds. “Subsequent passes certainly add a little bit, but it’s going to be a marginal increase, maybe 10 to 15 per cent in yield reduction as the compaction penalty.”

Shearer has another piece of advice for those shopping for a new grain cart. He recommends farmers try to resist the temptation to buy something really big and instead opt for an appropriately-sized cart better suited for their operation.

“You want to be careful that you don’t go larger than needed,” Shearer says, adding smaller grain carts not only save farmers money but also can reduce field operation difficulties and compaction risks during tough harvest seasons.

The post Supersized grain carts a weighty problem appeared first on Grainews.

The models will also include special markings denoting 100 years, and a commemorative interior plate.
Today’s Caterpillar is the result of a 1925 merger between the Holt Manufacturing Co. and C.L. Best Tractor Co.

Prior to the merger, Holt had a contract to sell track-type tractors to the government during the First World War. The contract allowed Holt to sell a significant number of machines with an acute focus on production. While Holt focused on the war effort, Best gained customers in the United States with new and innovative designs. Following the war, Holt had a worldwide reputation and modern manufacturing facilities while Best had a domestic presence, an advanced dealer network and expanded product line. The merger provided the company with funds and technological resources to invest in diesel technology designed to provide customers with more economical horsepower.

The post Special-edition Cats appeared first on Grainews.

Using the new portal, customers have access to OTR’s full product offering of tires, tubes, wheels, assemblies, and rubber tracks across multiple industries including construction, lawn and garden, agriculture, powersports, and mining.

The company says the portal was developed with enhanced search features to help users locate products quickly and easily. It also includes real-time inventory and the ability for users to select the most convenient shipping location from OTR’s national network of distribution centres.

The post OTR opens online tire ordering platform appeared first on Grainews.

NH had started off with bell-shaped tracks sourced from another manufacturer, API, on its largest models. Then, for its 2012 model year, it introduced its own SmartTrax modules for just the two largest T9 models.

For their 2025 model year, the T9s with PLM Intelligence will get the latest upgrade to the SmartTrax system, which will be available on the five largest models.

Along with that update, the tractors get more horsepower to turn those tracks. Newly upgraded axles, designed specifically for tracks, will also allow for significantly higher road speed.

     SEE MORE: New Holland’s T9 tractor picks up speed, and more

“On our tracked tractor we’ve improved the situation in four areas,” Sean Dorosz, T8 and T9 product manager, said at the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, Kentucky in February, where the updated T9 SmartTrax with PLM Intelligence tractors made their debut.

“With the track modules themselves, we now have the proper axle, so we can go with a ground speed of 25 m.p.h. (40 km-h) instead of 19. So we’ve picked up our ground speed just over 35 per cent.”

The new SmartTrax track modules get a number of improvements. New oscillating roller wheels and vibration dampening mount suspension provide for a smoother ride and should help prevent uneven track wear during roading.

Maintenance is simplified as well. The modules incorporate clear hubcaps to see oil levels, and will also have an automatic track tensioning system, which should help extend the life of the track and eliminate the need for manual adjustments.

Track widths of 30 and 36 inches are available from three different brands.

With boosted horsepower ratings, the five T9 with PLM Intelligence tractors now range from 475 to 645 horsepower.

For example, with its new rated engine horsepower of 645, the flagship T9.700 model gets a peak horsepower rating of 699 at 1,900 r.p.m.

     RELATED: Check out the New Holland T9 Series Tractor Specs

“This is still a 13-litre engine,” Dorosz says. “We’ve just been able to turn up the horsepower. Our top model went from 620 rated horsepower to 645.”

Furthermore, he says, “our fuel economy only went up a half a per cent. So depending on the job you’re doing, it’s going to be pretty much the same. We’re using the same engine technology. We’ve improved our exhaust after-treatment system. We used to have a big pipe right in the front corner of the cab. That’s now streamlined, so the exhaust can flow better. If you think of a diesel engine, having better flow with less back pressure you get better fuel economy. So we gained horsepower without really sacrificing fuel economy.”

To keep that engine fed, the new T9s get much bigger fuel tanks as well.

“We’ve added fuel capacity by being able to fit our saddle tanks onto the machine,” he said. “That gives us another 45 per cent more fuel capacity and longer runs in the day. On the prior tracked unit, the tracks got in the way. They (tanks) were a different design.”

To improve cab access, the tractors use a pivoting ladder, which moves as the tractor articulates for easier entry, even when the tractor is steered to the left. And to make it easier to clean the windows, there are now grab rails all the way around the perimeter of the roof, providing something to hold on to, to keep from falling.

“The other big thing we’ve done is we also increased the number of work lights on the roof for added visibility,” said Dorosz. “We added four in the front of the cab. It used to be zero. The work lights on the back of the tractor pointing toward the implement also have stronger lumens. So they’re much more powerful. You can see out to the end of those 100-foot air drills.”

The order book for 2025 T9 SmartTrax with PLM Intelligence tractors opens this summer.

The post Upgrades en route for New Holland’s T9 SmartTrax appeared first on Grainews.

That’s especially true in rural areas, where many farms are located near railway tracks.

“In 2022 there were 232 incidents between trains and vehicles or people in Canada that resulted in 66 fatalities and 43 serious injuries,” CN Police Constable Michael Reid explains. “Many of these incidents occurred in close proximity to the victim’s residence and each one may have been preventable.”

Did you know that given their large size, trains often appear to be farther away and travelling much slower than they actually are? But don’t be fooled. It takes the equivalent length of 18 football fields for the average freight train, which travels at speeds up to 100 km/h and can weigh tens of thousands of tonnes, to come to a stop.

So, while farm machines are larger than most other vehicles, they are still no match for trains.

And with most farm crossings being passive — that is, not having warning lights, bells or gates — it’s essential to take extra care to ensure safety.

Safe crossings

When approaching a crossing, always open cab windows, turn off radios and fans, remove headsets and listen for oncoming trains. Look in both directions and look around obstructions like mirrors and windshield pillars. Keep in mind that winter conditions can be particularly hazardous and require extra care, as snow can muffle the sound of approaching trains and ice can cause your machinery to slide into crossings.

Once you’ve determined it’s safe to cross, ensure your machinery is properly lined up with the railway crossing; having the wheels cross tracks at a 90-degree angle will prevent heavily loaded equipment from tipping over. You also want to check that there is enough room on the other side of the tracks to fully clear the crossing without stopping and that the back of your equipment won’t be within five metres of the tracks if you have to stop on the other side.

Be aware of your equipment

It’s important to note not all farm machinery can easily cross railway tracks. An example is low-slung equipment, which should never be used to cross since it can get caught in the tracks.

When using new farm machinery for the first time, especially if it’s particularly wide or heavy, ensure it can cross tracks quickly and safely. Don’t hesitate to contact the railway for assistance regarding any non-standard machinery.

If you’re towing equipment, it’s crucial to prevent it from becoming unhitched when going over farm crossings, so always secure hitch pins with a pin key. And remember to watch wagons and other equipment while crossing to ensure nothing dislodges or becomes caught in the tracks.

Getting stuck or stalled on the tracks

No one wants to get stuck or stalled on train tracks, but if it happens, get out of the machinery immediately and move at least 30 metres away to avoid being struck by debris if your vehicle is hit by a train.

Once you are safely away from the machinery, contact the railway company to let them know a vehicle is on the tracks. Railway companies post their emergency numbers on a blue sign under the crossbuck (the traffic sign used to indicate a railway crossing) or near the crossing. The number may also be posted on a nearby signal house. This is the first number to call if your machinery becomes stuck or stalls on the tracks, as it’s the only way to stop approaching trains. If you are unable to locate the emergency number, call 911.

No matter the type of machinery you are driving or where you are heading, we all share the same goal of getting home safely at the end of the day. Taking safety precautions around railway crossings will help ensure that goal is reached.

“Farmers and the agriculture industry are crucial to the Canadian economy and by working together we can feed the world. But we all need to make sure we do that safely,” Reid says. “As trains can take up to two kilometres to stop, always obey the signs and signals at railway crossings. Use precaution and stay alert around crossings to ensure you stay safe during your workday.”

For more safety information, please visit the Ag Safety Week website.

Every year, CASA raises awareness about the importance of safety on Canadian farms through Canadian Agricultural Safety Week (CASW), which takes place during the third week of March. In 2024, CASW takes place March 10-16, and is sponsored by CN, Syngenta Canada, the Canadian Canola Growers Association, Fertilizer Canada and Parrish & Heimbecker.

The post Farm safety includes being rail-safe appeared first on Grainews.

The AE50 design awards is an annual event sponsored by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE). It recognizes 50 product innovations in the areas of agricultural, food, and biological systems. The judges select the 50 systems they feel best advance engineering for these industries.

The Equalizer SP track leaves a pretty big footprint. It’s 50 inches wide by 128 inches long, which gives it over 88 square feet of ground contact (44 feet on each side) for maximum flotation.

For maintaining maximum ground contact, this extra-long long track design features cambering of the end wheels, with 20 degrees of front-to-rear movement along with nine degrees of side-to-side movement, in addition to the cambering action of the central mounting pivot.

The mid-wheels can pivot up to 16 degrees front-to-rear, to keep the track following the ground contours over rough terrain.

“In addition to the cambering (front-rear and side-to-side) action of the central track pivot point, the SP version adds cambering action to the front and rear sets of bogie/end wheels for increased ground contact,” Jerry Ecklund, communications manager at Unverferth, says.

“There are also two horizontally mounted urethane springs for cushioning the load located near the top, centre section on each side.”

The Equalizer SP track is available as an option on the largest Brent double-auger grain cart models 2598, 2098, which offer 2,500 and 2,000 bushel capacities, and the 2,000 bushel Unverferth dual-auger model 2020.

An auto-greaser system is standard equipment, which lubricates the pivot points to minimize daily maintenance.

The post New tracks from Unverferth appeared first on Grainews.

For several seasons there’s been a kind of yellow flag in the race as brands just lap the track holding their positions — but all of that seems to have ended. This summer we’ve catapulted past 700. And all manufacturers have quietly or loudly announced they’ve ramped up the muscle on their flagship models.

The most public announcement in the renewed horsepower race occurred this past August. Making its debut at the U.S. Farm Progress Show, Case IH pulled the wraps off the largest tractor it’s ever built: the 715 Steiger Quadtrac.

What’s prompted the end of that horsepower truce? Farmers, apparently.

RELATED: 2024 High-Horsepower Tractor Guide

“It’s all based on customer feedback,” Tom Curley, Case IH global product manager for Steiger, said when speaking to Grainews at the Big Iron farm show in North Dakota this past fall. “The goal is to improve productivity… and pull large drills and seeders at the speeds customers want to. For the 715 Quadtrac we had an extensive development program, including a significant amount of testing throughout the United States and Western Canada. The sole purpose of this tractor with 715 horsepower is to get more done in an hour.”

The spec sheet for the 715 is impressive. Available as a Quadtrac only, it gets a rated engine horsepower that matches its model number; peak horsepower tops out at a whopping 778. That power comes out of an all-new 16-litre C16 TST engine from Case IH’s sister company FPT Industrial. It uses a new cooling package specifically built for the 715.

READ MORE: The future of high horsepower engines: combustion, with a boost

“That engine was purposely designed for the 715 Quadtrac to meet the demands of our customers,” Curley says. “It has an improved, updated 16×2 power shift transmission. It’s a heavier-duty version of our current transmission. It was designed specifically for the 715 Quadtrac.”

To feed that big diesel, the 715 gets a 520-gallon (1,968-litre) fuel tank, 50 gallons more than the other Steigers carry.

“It puts all that power to the ground through a new undercarriage,” Curley adds. “It maintains roughly the same width of tractor to fit down the road as needed, but it also puts more power to the ground with a larger footprint, larger drive wheel and longer tracks.”

The tracks are 12 inches longer overall and leave a footprint about two inches longer than the other Steigers. Thirty-inch-wide tracks are standard, but 36-inch tracks are an option. Those big track modules can move the 715 down the road pretty quickly too, hitting a rated 26.5 m.p.h. (42 km/h), a little faster than the 23.8 mph (38 km/h) where all the other Steigers top out.

As you’d expect, the heavier undercarriage and larger components add a bit of heft to the 715, making it nearly two tons heavier than the previous flagship Quadtrac. And it can handle more ballasting as well, to help convert all that engine power into usable traction.

“The tractor is about 3,500 pounds heavier than a 620 Quadtrac,” Curley says. “For those needing to put the power to the ground, such as those pulling large air seeders, we will allow up to 72,000 lbs. (32,658 kg) GVW (gross vehicle weight).”

The new 715 Quadtrac also sports a fresh look for the brand, with a redesigned hood and slimmed-down exhaust stack to improve visibility from the cab. The new hood design will eventually be rolled out on the smaller Steigers and later all the tractors in the Case IH lineup.

New Holland T9.700

While Case IH grabbed headlines with the 715, its sister brand, New Holland, also had a new powerhouse tractor to show off, the T9.700 with PLM Intelligence. While not quite the hot rod the Case IH 715 is, the T9.700 pushes the previous top end of the blue tractor line to 645 rated engine h.p., with a peak horsepower rating of 699 from a smaller displacement FPT Cursor 13-litre diesel with twin-stage turbochargers.

Power gets routed through a 16Fx2R power shift transmission, just like its Case IH cousins. With the optional MegaFlow II pump system, hydraulic flow gets boosted up from the standard 42 g.p.m. (159 l/m, 216 with the high-flow option) to a whopping 113 g.p.m. (428 l/m).

Unlike its Case IH Steiger 715 cousin, however, the T9.700 comes in a wheeled configuration.

Claas 12 Series Xerion

Making a surprise debut in July, Class pulled the wraps off the all-new 12 Series Xerion line of four-wheel-drive tractors, which also pushed up the line’s maximum horsepower rating. The new models were unveiled in Western Canada — a first for Claas — because according to the brand, they were built specifically for North American broad-acre farming.

“The 12 Series Xerion tractor line was specifically built for North America,” said Franz Reijmers, North American product manager for tractors at Claas. “A 590-h.p. tractor in both wheeled and tracked, as well as a 650-h.p. tractor at the top end. This is an addition to the Xerion line, so now we’ll be offering four different horsepowers in the Xerion range.”

The range-topping 12.650 model makes Claas a contender at the top of the horsepower race for those who want the most muscle available in a production tractor. But these aren’t just amped-up versions of the previous Xerion models. They are a complete redesign, according to Reijmers, although they keep many of the features unique to the line. And that includes staying away from the articulated chassis virtually every other major brand has chosen for high-horsepower models.

Under the 12 Series Xerion hoods is a 15.6-litre Mercedes Benz diesel that produces peak torque at just 1,300 r.p.m., which helps minimize fuel consumption while delivering all the power it can. Even at that low engine speed, the new Xerions can still deliver a high hydraulic flow, which maxes out at an impressive 142 g.p.m. (537 l/m) with the optional three-pump system. Four priority remotes can be used to keep essential systems like air drill fans running at optimum speed. The base, single-pump hydraulic system delivers 58 g.p.m. (220 l/m).

All that horsepower is routed through what Claas calls a “purpose built” in-house-designed CMATIC Eccom 5.5 CVT transmission that offers those precise settings and easy speed adjustments typical of a CVT.

Maximum speed on the Terra Trac versions is 40 km/h and 50 km/h on the wheeled models.

John Deere 9R

Last summer there were numerous “spy” pictures circulating on social media of a previously unseen four-wheel drive John Deere that looked to be much larger than the current production models and likely pushing near or past 700 horsepower. While many expected that phantom machine to appear at Agritechnica, it didn’t. And of course, Deere isn’t saying anything about it.

If Deere has a new, larger model in field trials, there are still lots of major equipment shows in the U.S. between now and next season for it to make its debut. In the meantime, Deere’s flagship 9R tractor hits 640 h.p., with a maximum power rating of 691. The power under their hoods comes from Deere’s own relatively new JD14X 13.6-litre engine. That higher engine rating debuted for the 2022 model year.

And the green brand added 20 more ponies to each model in its line of 9RT models this past spring, boosting the biggest 9RT model to 590 rated h.p., giving it a maximum power rating of 649.

Agco

Over at Agco, the two-tracked Fendt MT1167 Vario, which was released in 2020, has pushed well past the previous 600-h.p. barrier, with a rated 673. It gets that power from a 16.2-litre diesel that has a constant torque range between 800 and 1,700 r.p.m. All that power flows through the Fendt Vario’s mechanical-hydrostatic driveline.

If you prefer a tractor in yellow instead of pale green, the equivalent model is available as the Challenger MT867, complete with the 16.2-litre MAN diesel and CVT transmission.

With the introduction of the new 9S Series of Massey Ferguson MFWD models at Agritechnica in November, Agco has pushed the biggest model there up another 25 h.p., to 425. While that doesn’t complete with the big dogs, it certainly shows the trend toward more power isn’t reserved for just the largest models a brand can offer.

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