MX has designed a new steering knob that it calls ‘Tract-Pilot’. It controls many of the tractor’s functions during front loader work.

According to French outlet www.web-agri.fr the system takes the form of a “driving ball“. It enables you to control your tractor’s direction of travel and gearing.

It only takes a few minutes to install the joystick in the tractor, according to the company. The device comes with a lithium battery and relies on radio communication.

In practice, the farmer manages the tractor with his/her left hand and the loader with the right.

MX also claims that the use of this steering system is likely to disrupt farmers’ driving habits – improving them for the better (by reducing the number of manoeuvres that will have to be made).

The idea behind the device – the Tract-Pilot (pictured below) – is that the operator’s right hand is freed up to control the loader joystick.

Image source: Mechaman.nl

Who or what is MX?

MX is a French manufacturer of tractor-mounted front loaders, attachments, front linkages and bale handlers. Operating in more than 60 countries around the world, the company is six decades old and is headquartered near Rennes in the north-west of France.

Farmec Ireland distributes MX loaders here in Ireland.