‘Rigid’ move articulates tractor buy

He went back to a wheeled model and then swapped to a John Deere rigid 9630T track model in 2008, chalking up a moderate 4300 hours in seeding operations.

What might be called judicious management planning – to get the best price – led to the 9630T being used as a trade this year on a new John Deere 9520RX articulated track tractor, bought from AFGRI Equipment, Dalwallinu.

It hooked up to an 18.2 metre Morris seeder and 15 tonne box for seeding duties and is earmarked for renovation work with a 12.2m (40ft) Grizzly and a 7.5m (25ft) Agrowplow deep ripper.

While the new model represents a 7.5kW (10hp) drop in horsepower – it’s rated at 388kW (520hp) – it has a higher power boost (to 425kW, 570hp), which will comes in handy in tight spots.

But for Garry it’s not an issue.

“I’m happy with the horsepower and with the seeding rig we’re doing about 16 hectares an hour, seeding at 9.5 kilometres per hour with the engine revs sitting between 550 and 1650rpm,” he said.

His favourite feature is the transmission – an e18 powershift transmission with John Deere Efficiency Manager.

“The transmission is amazingly smooth,” he said.

“While powershifts always seem to have a couple of rough shifts, with this one you can hardly feel the change when you’re increasing or decreasing speed.

“Really the tractor does it all for you which is good for casual staff.”

Garry said the big difference between the new articulated model and the rigid 9630T was the virtual elimination of berming on turns.

“You don’t lose much power, it’s mainly on straight lines, and being articulated it tracks better as you’re turning,” he said.

Garry said the rigid model provided more power efficiency, “but it’s only a small penalty with the articulated model and it’s nicer to drive on the road”.

That comes compliments of a new CommandView III cab with a new suspension system for improved ride quality.

Other features include built-in, fully integrated AutoTrac guidance and JDLink Connect information management and increased hydraulic flow.

A Generation 4 Command Center features custom-built pages and green-on-green integrated technologies providing fingertip control of tractor and implement functions.

All 9RX models are offered with Camoplast Durabuilt puncture-resistant rubber tracks and are available in 76 centimetre (30 inch) and 91cm (36in) widths on 2.2m (7.3ft) spacings.

Power ratings are between 346kW (470hp) and 456kW (620hp) with a choice between a John Deere PowerTech PSS 13.5 litre engine (9470RX, 9520RX and 9570RX models) and a Cummins QSX15 engine in the 9620RX (with the option of the Cummins in 9570RX).

The company also has re-designed the hydraulic system which can be optioned up to eight SCVs and delivers a standard 220 litres a minute of flow, or an optional 435L/min.

It also can be optioned with a PTO.

According to Deere, the stand-out design in its RX Series is a mechanical Parallel Plane Four-Bar Linkage system with 10cm (4in) of vertical travel to control movement and isolate the cab and operator from sudden impacts and vibration.

In layman’s-speak, the front idler is positioned slightly higher than the two mid rollers with a disposition to climb over obstacles rather than bull-dozing.

Deere also claims its mid rollers keep the track belts in contact with the soil over the entire length of the under carriage and the spacing of the mid rollers also helps prevent vibration during transport and in working mode.

It also said a large drive sprocket provided more wrap angle and more positive drive lug engagement.

The belt also is eight per cent longer than competitive models, meaning it can travel the same distance with fewer revolutions, giving 20pc longer belt life.

The mid rollers are bolted onto a sealed cartridge hub which requires an oil level check at 1500 hours and an oil change at 10,000 hours.

The design means there’s no daily oil level inspections required, which are facilitated by clear caps on competitive models.