Got our New Fendt

[durallymax]

Well finally after many years, we have our first Fendt. The cost kept dad a little hesitant to go the Fendt route up front and with the Massey's getting the same transmission we tried that route. That route turned out to be an absolute disaster with the 8600 series letting us down numerous times, often times we would have more than one broke at once. The day has finally came where that problem child has left the farm and the Fendt is here. Hopefully with many more to come.

Here is a link to the 8600 saga we had : http://www.thecombineforum.com/forums/18-tractors/24111-new-agco-tractors.html

I'm not in a detail mood right now, so I am sure I'll explain a lot more about them later, but for those who do not know Fendt, they are a German tractor brand that Agco purchased in the late 90s. Agco has stayed out of the engineering part which is good. Fendt remains the same anal retentive innovative company they have been but with Agco's dealer network and financial support.

Others will argue it many ways, but many agree Fendt is the most innovative tractor brand out there. They were the first with their CVT, still the only stepless CVT, first with axle suspension, first with cab suspension, first with TMS, and many other things. They use IFS on the 900 series which gives a great ride. The Cab sits on a 3 point air ride system and then the driver sits in an active climate controlled air ride seat. The Fendt stability control helps keep the tractor planted when cornering at high speeds, while dual circuit air brakes with ABS keep things safe. They also offer an exhaust brake which is very helpful in our application of pulling 7300 gallons of manure around.

Fendt tractors win efficiency awards with every new series it seems. The CVT really helped them with this, but then others jumped on the CVT game. Fendt's newer TMS (Tractor Management System) along with the new Duetz engines has helped them push the efficiency further.

They are intimidating to operate for many people, everything is just symbols and the operators manual is written more like a service manual meaning its written for people who already understand how Fendt likes to do things. It can be tough to navigate for many people and some of the ideas do not translate over well from German sometimes.

Once you get onto them though they are the easiest tractor to operate. I'll have to make a video of operating one and some of their features someday. It really is simple.

Some people think they are ugly, I think they are very sharp looking. The red rims turn a lot of people off as does the shade of green so Fendt offers "beauty" packages which come with a stainless exhaust, grille, and optional grey rims. The optional beauty colors are Fir Green, Steel Blue, Black Cherry and Black.


That's all I really have for now. Heres a couple quick pictures.

 

[tanman_2006]

Nice looking tractor. I would have one if I had the money, for now I'm pretty happy with my case magnums but if I ever need a lease their top of the list

Source Unknown

 

[RI Chevy Silveradoman]

Wow! High tech farming.

 

[schiker]

Nice tractor.

 

[saratoga]

That's seriously high-tech. Do you do everything with the joystick or does it have a steering wheel also?

 

[Will L.]

Holy crud, I know zero about tractors except helping an old customer restore some ooold deere (b&c), but man I wana see you operate that rig in a video!

 

[3500GMC]

I know virtually nothing about tractors and farming, so forgive the question, where does John Deere rank in this type of machine? Was there ever a consideration?

 

[durallymax]

Nice looking tractor. I would have one if I had the money, for now I'm pretty happy with my case magnums but if I ever need a lease their top of the list

Source Unknown

Weve got a few old magnums, they are the most reliable workhorses we have. Just arent cut out for what we need the Fendt for though. This Fendt was nearly 200k more than dad and my uncle bought our 8940 new for in the 90s. Technology has really come a long ways however if you dont need it, the old Magnums are tough to beat.

That's seriously high-tech. Do you do everything with the joystick or does it have a steering wheel also?

It has a steering wheel but when in the field we use autosteer so it drives itself.

I know virtually nothing about tractors and farming, so forgive the question, where does John Deere rank in this type of machine? Was there ever a consideration?

John Deere and Fendt are strobg competitors with each other.

Traditionally Deere is a market follower. They have some serious brand recognition and loyal customers so for them it works to just sit back and observe what works best for others then implement it.

If you spec a Deere similar to the Fendt it will be very comparable on price. However you can spec a Deere with far less features to get the costs down. Deere has their IVT trans which has given Fendts Vario some good competition but their design still has its shortcomings. Most noteably the clutchpacks it has to shift through as their IVT cannot go from 0-35mph seemlessly. This is what Fendt holds the patent on. Their variable displacement pump and motors can swing a full 45* which allows the full range of speed, the pump can swing backwards 30* which allows the seemless transistion to reverse and up to 24mph in reverse. I wont get into how their CVT works in detail as I am on my phone but its a simple concept. All the power goes through a planetary gearset. The engine is connected direct to the sun gear. The hydraulic motors drive the ring gear of the planetary, they are fed fluid by the variable displacement pump. Using these motors they can adjust the resistance/assistance onto the ring gear to determine the power flow. Since power takes the path of least resistance. So while at lower speeds its mostly hydraulically driven but as the speed increasea it becomes more mechanical until full speed where it is direct. The planetary is actually very small, like 8" or so, but due to their not being any actual shifting, there is no shock loads. The planetary is always under load in the same direction so it does not need to be heavy. This is a big advantage.

Another advantage the Vario has over the others is that it can be ran mechanically. It may sound complex and yes that joystick is what controls it, however it needs no electronics to operate. They supply you with a rod you simply put through the floor, then you twist it to speed up and slow down. You are just mechanically swinging the pump and motors versus an actuator doing it. This mode is only used as a limp home feature though obviously.

Another advantage to the Vario is that it runs in its own oil. All other tractors run the transmission and auxillary hydro together. This allows contamination of poor quality fluid when you hook up to an old piece of equipment and such. You also loose your lube quickly with a blown hose or leaking fitting. Having the trans seperate keeps it protected.

One final advantage is that the Vario is a sealed module. Nobody can work on it outside the factory. This eliminates errors by dealer mechanics and such and speeds up repair times. It takes less than 2 days to replace one. You simply remove the cab, then remove the housing cover. Disconnect the module and replace it with a new one.

I can go on and on later when im on a real computer.


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[GM Guy]

glad to hear you guys finally got one! I've been following all the issues you have been having with the masseys on the other forums. I bet the cost of ownership in the long run will be alot better on this one.

to all others, a way to put it is that this is the tractor John Deere wants to be when it grows up. I would go as far to say these are the best commerically produced tractors on the planet.

It bothers me when guys put the IVT in the same class as the CVT, saying its just as good, just as reliable, etc. maybe for the first 5,000 hours, sure, but the fendt CVT is far superior to the Deere.

as far as the controls, there are a few youtube videos out there on one being operated. it is definitely an operators machine, not a drivers machine. It seems like Deere works hard to make it easy to learn, and a flunkie can get by operating it, and that is fine for some outfits. But IMO on that expensive of tractor with that kind of technology, a real operator needs to be in the seat, not a driver.

good luck with it, I am sure it will be awesome! you guys definitely deserve it after all the massey fun you have been put through.

 

[Ed HD]

That's crazy. I know those Fendt's are good, problem for us is that the nearest dealer is a hike away, whereas we're awash with JD and CNH dealers within 20 minutes...

 

[durallymax]

Heres a couple videos that you guys may enjoy. Incase it takes me awhile to make one.

Here is a Fendt's video explaining the Vario CVT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_-LL0sCT-k

This video shows the actual CVT module being operated, its not the best video but you can watch the pump and motor swing along with the planetary ring gear slowing and speeding up. It doesn't look like much but over 400hp goes through these without an issue. Largely due to the fact that everything is in constant contact, there are no shock loads.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rS8wKE6rvRk


This one shows a lot of the features of the Variotronic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEYAnEzennA

This video shows a lot of their other features.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWy6PZ-Fadg&list=PL16DFAAE1B4BC1F0B&index=16

 

[3500GMC]

Friggin' awesome. That's a big boy tractor.

 

[GM Guy]

agco actually had a trailer running around at the farm shows showing the CVT off. they had a cutaway, and that is where we finally understood it, and were quite impressed. I think that may be it in one of the videos above.

 

[durallymax]

agco actually had a trailer running around at the farm shows showing the CVT off. they had a cutaway, and that is where we finally understood it, and were quite impressed. I think that may be it in one of the videos above.

You sure it was a cut away? Ive never seem one cut away really. They look like a cut away but thats actually how they are inside the case. They also do not sit in an oil bath, they use forced lube to increase efficiency.


Spent enough time.in it today chopping silage. Its just too easy and comfortable to drive. Since our fields are all planted with autosteer now and the chopper its r lf has autosteer I was able to setup the autosteer on thr Fendt to drive perfect next to the chopper. I set the auto steer to 30" swath so that I could simply pick my distance from the chopper and the tractor would only move less than one row to get online.

Got the Variotronic automated sequences programmed to makr unloading silage wagons that much nicer. Get into the bunker and press GO1 on the stick, the tractor engages the remote and revs to 2000rpm while setting the cruise at 0.5mph. Once empty press END1 which reverses the remote so the door can close on wagon, cancels cruise control and cancels the rpm settinv returning it to TMS mode where the RPMs are automatic. Then press GO2 to cancel the remote( I have the timers set to infinity so this additional step is required) and select cruise 2 which is the 34mph road setting. All of the items within each sequence are performed simultaneously. A forage wagon is very simple, where this system really shines is with complex implements with a lot to do on headlands like corn planters and such. You can program as many functions into each sequence as needed. You can also add time delays, distance delays, or trigger delays ( one function must finish before the next one in the sequence can proceed).

The best part about all of this is that you can create a program for every implement and save them seperatley under that implements name. I set everything up so that our operators justbhave to go to the menu and pick what implement they are using. All of the settings for the transmission, engine, hydraulics, 3 points ptos, counters(acres fuel, efficiency etc), Variotronic headland sequences, and GPS data. Whats nice is that it is always the same every time which leads to much less operator confusion.


Also been working on an LED strobe system for the Fendt so we can leave the flashers off. What I need though is something to stop the strobes and turn them into signals when needed.

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[btfarm]

Precision farming has gone SO far beyond what we ever imagined, it blows the mind. Incredibly cool shit!

 

[Ed HD]

:stupid:

 

[durallymax]

Got the weights on it today. Going to need it now with all this rain and a lot of silage to chop. 1000lbs in each rear wheel and 4000lbs on the front.

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[Ed HD]

Yeah, those front tires are squatting a bit! I'm assuming the front end setup is designed for other front attachments as well?

 

[durallymax]

Yeah, those front tires are squatting a bit! I'm assuming the front end setup is designed for other front attachments as well?

They only have 13psi in them. I need to add a little for road worjk. Thry are icreased flexion tires so they are msde forvlow pressures

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[3500GMC]

I see a some axle protruding on the rear, would you ever need duals?