John Deere performance and quality
The U.S. major's combines, round balers and tractors gave a taste of the technologies for precision farming. These solutions are designed to fit together top-flight performance and an equal level of quality
The John Deere self-levelling S670 combine was an outstanding attraction at the EIMA Show with a transmission for speeds to 40 km/h, an emergency differential lock and an integrated handbrake which makes it possible not only to save time for moving the machine from one field to another but also the time needed to finish a field. The S670 series combine is equipped with a lateral feederhouse platform tilt designed to increase grain flow by as much as 20%, according to John Deere, and a Variable Stream rotor equipped with an 8-wing accelerator which ensures high yield by increasing flow with progressive threshing of small grain and even resistant or abrasive straw. The power plant selected for the combine is the 9-liter Max Power (ECE R120). Straw makes seven rotations with the deflectors in standard position and only five in the advanced position with a significant improvement in quality of the final product and a considerable reduction of the pula in the airbox. An Active Tailings System was designed to diminish load on the rotor and send returns to the return pan, above the Dyna-Flow cleaning shoe, rather than the separator which would lessen performance. For handling residues there is Premium management with a 100-blade chopper and an air blast for even spreading to optimize operations from windrowing to fine chopping controlled by the operator using a button in the cab. In the round baler category, John Deere brought out the variable chamber 862 model for the production of excellent bales with no interruption in operations. The 862 baler in the 8x2 range is built with a heavy duty welded frame to guarantee a long, reliable working life. Other advanced construction features are a baling chamber equipped with ultra-strong baler belts and tensioners and a design targeted on optimum control of bale formation thanks to a dynamic soft-core system to relax belt tension to produce the required bale diameter which facilitates improved drying. Among the other strong points of the 8X2 balers are 2 meter high capacity pick-ups and updated chains in the gearbox for greater baling volume. Also turning up for the demonstration trials in the heavy duty category was the John Deere 8370R row crop tractor driven by a 9-liter John Deere PSS engine with high Hp Dual turbochargers, variable geometry turbo with fixed geometry turbo in series combined with the efficient full PowerShift or the Infinite Variable AutoPower transmission ensuring facilitated and smooth driving. The hydraulic plant for these tractors guarantees maximum lift capacity as great as 12.2 tons with flow rate at 321 liters/m and oil takeup at 91 liters/m. For the suspension, in front is an independent-link-suspension axle and the cab provides an Air Cushion Suspension and an ActiveSeat suspension system for comfortable driving. To further enhance work at the wheel there is the John Deere Active Command Steering (ACS) system which reduces steering effort in the silenced cab where noise is taken down to only 70 dB. To round out the profile of this model are Autotrac automatic steering and a JDLink machine monitoring system.
