In August John Deere made a number of machinery announcements for the New Year. Coming on line in 2014 will be new fixed chamber balers, new trailed mower conditioners and new heavy-duty XUV Gators.
New fixed chamber balers
John Deere are saying with its new line of 400 Series balers, now offers a complete solution for small and medium livestock farms, large farms and contractors.
According to the company: ‘Keep the best and change the rest’ was the design principle for the new F440M fixed chamber baler, developed for small to medium size farms looking for a single multi-purpose machine. Designed to produce between 1000 and 3000 bales of hay, silage or straw per season, John Deere says the F440M maintains the high quality bale shape of its predecessor, the 623 model.
The F440M can also be ordered with the 623’s MultiCrop tailgate and net wrapping system. Along with the high performance feeding system of the 900 Series variable chamber round baler with Fast Release System, the F440M also features some of the 900 Series’ advanced technologies, including a new driveline and rotor, stronger shielding, wider and bigger tyres and other improved components.
New trailed mower conditioners
John Deere says its new 600 side-pull and 800 centre-pivot mower conditioners are set to serve a wide range of customer needs from the small and medium sized livestock farm to large livestock farms and contractors.
Since smaller livestock farms are often mowing less than 100ha a year, they are primarily interested in low operating costs. Medium size farms mowing between 100 and 400ha per season, as well as large farms and contractors mowing more than 400ha a year, put a higher emphasis on uptime and performance.
With this in mind John Deere says its new 630/635 and 830/835 mower conditioners have therefore been designed to meet all these requirements. They are available in working widths of 3m and 3.5m, with a choice of impellers or rollers for the conditioning process. Their reinforced frames, large tyres and redesigned transmissions are built to ensure long-term reliability and high performance.
As an exclusive feature, the modular cutter bar of the 600 and 800 Series mower conditioners allows high-speed mowing in the field, and has been engineered to duplicate the load conditions of a self-propelled machine. The mowers’ balanced design and high ground clearance increase field performance, while the newly designed floating suspension system allows the machines to closely follow ground contours.
New heavy-duty XUV Gators
John Deere’s latest XUV heavy-duty crossover utility vehicle line-up features two new models, the fast and powerful XUV 825i Gator plus the four-seater XUV 855D S4 Gator.
According to John Deere the Gators have always been known for their durability, versatility and safety. It says XUV 825i maintains all of these core qualities, but the extra power and speed are what set it apart in the range.
The new XUV 825i is equipped with an 812cc, three-cylinder, liquid cooled, dual overhead cam petrol engine producing 37kW (50hp) and a top speed of 70km/h (44mph), plus a 26.7 litre fuel tank. The automotive grade engine uses electronic fuel injection for easy starting, which together with the new CVT air intake results in smoother automotive-style performance.
The four seater XUV 855D S4 is powered by the proven 16.1kW (21.9hp) liquid cooled three-cylinder diesel engine featured in the current XUV 855D model. This Gator also has a top speed of 51km/h (32mph) and comes with power steering as standard.
To allow for extra passengers or cargo space, the XUV 855D S4 provides a convertible rear bench that folds down to provide a flat surface for extra storage. A spacious under seat storage compartment is also included. The durable composite and metal hybrid cargo box carries on the Gator tradition of superior hauling capacity on the four-seater models.
New Sprayers
John Deere is extending its trailed sprayer range with the introduction of the new mid-specification M700(i) and M900(i) models for 2014. To help reduce spraying cost per hectare, these M-Series sprayers have been specially designed to meet the requirements of farms growing up to 750ha of cereals, oilseed rape or row crops.
M700 Series sprayers are available as standard versions with 2400, 3200 or 4000-litre tanks, or as ‘i-specification’ machines with 3200 or 4000-litre tank capacities. Equipped with a triple folding 30m boom, these sprayers match 6m seeders or drills, and compared to a 24m boom they can cover 25 per cent more ground at one pass.
The larger M900 Series sprayers have many of the same features as the R900i Series, including high capacity filling performance using the PowrFill chemical inductor, the same choice of 5200 or 6200-litre tank capacities for maximum productivity, and durable steel booms from 24 to 40m. The M900 and M900i are available with a manual or semi-automatic operator station for easy and fast sprayer set-up.
