Curiosity about new large tractors

Charlie M

Well-known Member
There is a big JD parked across the road from me - driver says its about 400 horse and doesn't even look that big. I was wondering what the large tractors weigh these days. Do they still load the tires with Calcium chloride for weight. I know their weight is a compaction issue but a lot of tractors don't look like they would have enough weight to support a 300-400 horse motor and what it is capable of pulling.Even the small new ones make my M look tiny.Hard to believe people once thought an M was too large a tractor.
 
Some are heavy enough as is. If it is ballasted (weighted) until the tires don't spin out in high traction soil in low gear , they will usually break transmission components. Balancing the total weight is also controlled by implement weight transfer, and traction control automation. So, yes they are weighted. each individually to make appropriate traction with a small % of slippage at ideal implement speed. Not simply a matter of tossing on weight. Jim
 

Yesterday, SWMBO and I were driving around the country checking on the Spring [color=green:e5aff7e82c]'greenup' [/color:e5aff7e82c]and a BTO had 2 4wd JDs sitting on the corner of a field, hooked up to some BIG wing-type discs. The tractors were tripled-up and had 12 tires and wheels on each of them! :shock: I can only guess what a new set of tires would cost. :shock: Oh well, I hope he knows what he's doing!
 
The articulated or rubber track tractors are typically weighted to 1000 lb/hp. So a 500 hp tractor would weigh 50000 lb. Late model Deere, the last three digits of the model number is typically the engine horsepower. Usually cast iron is used for weight. Calcium will prevent modern radials from flexing like they should.
A row crop tractor may be weighted lighter depending on the job. On a large planter, a significant amount of power is required to run the hydraulics.
 
There are two components to transferring engine horsepower to the drawbar - pulling force and speed. The modern high horsepower, relatively lightweight tractors are designed to work with drawbar loads at 6 to 8 mph whereas years ago the typical field speeds would have been maybe 5 mph at most. The large tires and suspension on the front axle and cabs that modern tractors have makes the higher speeds comfortable for the operator and most modern implements are designed for these speeds. The advantage of utilizing the engine power through increased speed instead of increased drawbar pull is that less weight is needed for traction. This means that less of the engine's power is needed simply move the tractor which makes more available for doing work which in turn leads to greater efficiency. It is the exact opposite of the large, heavy tractors and steam engines of 100 years ago that crept along at 2 mph while getting only maybe half of the engine's power to the ground.
 
These newer JD 4x4 tractors will weigh 40,000 lbs or more shipping weight and it doesn't take much to get them over 50,000 which is what are two are at. They are a 9570R and 9520R. Big Buds back in the day weighed between 36,000 and 45,000 lbs dry so JD is right were they should be. I think Steigers weigh just as much maybe more. If guys are still using calcium chloride grandpa must still be around the place.
 
If that's the first time you have seen triples on a 4x4 you need
to explore the country more. It's a sort of a common setup
we're I'm at in MT and apparently in MN too because us and a
neighbor of ours bought used JD 4x4s that came out of MN
and both have triples.
 
You can get front suspension on the three biggest tractors JD makes the 9520R/9570R/9620R. The rest go from the 8Rs down to at least the 6Rs. Don't know if JD offer suspension on tractors smaller then that.
 
We had a 9400 with triples on but that was rougher riding then the big metrics dualed on the 9560r wehave now ...this one weighs about 41000 without added ballast
 
Certain model JD articulates now have available suspension. 8R, 7R, 6R and 6M all have available suspension. 8R's have A arm suspension ILS (automotive type). The others all have Triple Link Suspension, which is a suspended solid axle. The new 5R tractor, that has just been introduced to the NA market, is also available with ILS, though some research indicates that it's a Carraro product. I've always been under the impression that the ILS on the 8000/8R tractors is a Deere product, which I'm sure Deere wants you to think. Maybe it's a Carraro product as well? Who knows. All the above tractors are available with cab suspension as well. Case IH (CNH in gerneral) has front axle suspension available on the Magnum, Puma, and Maxxum, as well as the European Luxxum, which is comparable to the Deere 5R. The first 3 listed also have available cab suspension. Basically, 100hp and bigger is available with front axle suspension. Having driven tractors with cab suspension and front axle suspension, the front axle suspension makes a bigger difference than the cab suspension, but the two together do a really nice job. To be honest though, the cab suspension can make things worse on really rough terrain. It just gets to throwing the cab all over,
 
JCB Fastracs have front and rear suspension as well I believe. Almost have to, not so much to eliminate power hop like on the big JD'S, but probably more so just to improve the ride quality of a tractor that will travel over 50 mph. The last dealer I worked for sold the JCB tractors, and while not a high hp tractor, they were a good sized tractor, and road like a Cadillac. Almost unsettling to have a tractor handle like that at a those speeds.
 

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