CLAAS has two Axion 960 Terra Trac (AX960TT) tractors in Australia undergoing pre-release testing and evaluation.
One is in WA and the other in the Eastern States.
CLAAS had it on display at the Making Smoking History Wagin Woolorama this year, fresh off the boat from Europe, prior to the evaluation trials starting in Geraldton, the Central Wheatbelt and Great Southern regions.
The AX960TT evaluation trial is going well according to Geraldton branch manager Mike Hutton.
For the past few weeks the CLAAS team has been seeing what the latest evaluation tractor has been made of and so far those behind the wheel have been impressed.
Northampton farmer Amery Drage spent some time in the cab putting the tractor through its paces in high and low speeds.
"We ran the tractor on the spreader putting out some potash," Mr Drage said.
"We pushed it out at high speed to see how it rides.
"Then we attached it to our TTQ deep ripper.
"It was ridiculous, for a front wheel assist it pulled better than our 4WD tractor."
Mr Drage said considering the weight and size of the machine, he couldn't believe how well it did.
He said they were doubtful that the AX960TT could pull the ripper but it was "effortless".
"We didn't think we would be able to pull it because the tractor struggles at times," Mr Drage said.
"But we dropped it to full depth at 600 millimetres and it was fine.
"We even stopped it and then started again at that depth and it wasn't a problem.
"The TTQ is a big deep ripper so it was really impressive.
"The Axion has a bigger footprint than the other tractor but it hugged the ground a lot better with 445hp to the ground.
"It sounded effortless."
Mr Drage said the AX960TT also had an "impressive" turning circle.
"It turned ridiculously tight," he said.
It was also "smooth" through various types of terrain including when driven up to 45km/h on the drive back to the shed.
"The other 4WD tractor would bounce along but this was smooth, you'd hit a bump and that was it," Mr Drage said.
"It just absorbed the movement.
"The main thing was the transmission - the CMATIC (CVT) was chalk and cheese to what we currently use."
Mr Drage said they would have liked to put a chaser bin behind it but seeing what it could do with the ripper he was certain it would manage that without any problems.
He said they were considering purchasing one once it was finally released to the market because it would do a better job than what they could do at present and it would also help improve labour efficiency around set up times.
The AX960TT features 445hp, a speed of up to 40km/h, CVT transmission, 8.7 litre FPT engine, a 870L fuel tank and full suspension (suspended front axle, four-point cab suspension, suspended terratrac).
Modifications are expected to be made after the evaluation trials are completed so that it stands up to the conditions experienced by Australian farmers when it is released for consumers hopefully in 2022.