With the release of its 600 Vario series in late 2023, Fendt inferred that a four-pot engine was the way forward for those wanting a 200hp tractor. CPM visited a recent field day to find out why.
“A four-cylinder engine and a tractor designed specifically around it gives us a number of advantages at this output.” – PHIL MATTEY
By Martin Rickatson
When it comes to tractors, the 150-200hp power bracket is one of Europe’s greatest by volume, accounting for models used across a range of farm sizes and enterprises. Often being the largest tractors on mid-sized arable units, they’re equally likely to be found taking the jack-of-all-trades role on bigger farms too.
Increasingly though, while this output sector used to be solely six-pot territory, engine designers have recently found ways to extract more power from four cylinder powerplants – designing compact, manoeuvrable, lighter tractors which benefit from CVT transmissions, further aiding frugalness with fuel.
One of the sector’s latest entrants is AGCO’s Fendt brand with the 600 Vario series launched at Agritechnica 2023. This power bracket is one long dominated on arable farms by the brand’s 724 Vario – a 240hp six-cylinder tractor that’s now in the middle of a refreshed ‘Gen7’ line launched in 2022, with 203-303hp maximum outputs from six-cylinder engines. Below this, Fendt’s four-cylinder offering had topped out with the 500 Vario series, headed by a 163hp (max) model.
The gap between the two ranges was filled just over 18 months ago by the release of the 600 Vario series, featuring a new AGCO Power Core50 engine used exclusively by the German brand. It uses similar design principles to the first of the new Core engine series, the Core75 introduced alongside the 700 Gen7 series tractors, but is a five-litre, four-cylinder design.
EXPERIENCED TEAM
The AGCO Power engine business and its team of Finnish engineers isn’t new to extracting more power from four cylinders – using the same power provider, Fendt’s Valtra stablemate has long offered high-hp four-pot N series models, currently headed by the 201hp N175.
But now, Fendt has gone a stage further with the four-model 600 Vario series and its four-pot peak power figures of 164-224hp, offering a DynamicPerformance 15hp peak power boost. Maximum power is delivered at 1600rpm, while maximum torque of 950Nm is attained from 1200-1600rpm, a low speed/high torque engine design combination integral to Fendt’s iD low engine speed concept.
Established on larger Fendt tractors, this system boosts power availability at lower rpm, a principle said to enhance tractor performance through the typical working engine speed range for key tasks, while helping to reduce fuel consumption as a result. Rated engine speed is 1900rpm, with the main working speed range covered by the 1350-1800rpm engine speed sector, which Fendt says has a noticeable effect on noise reduction. The 620 Vario top model can reach its 50km/h top speed at 1250rpm.
The engine features selective catalytic reduction, a diesel particulate filter and diesel oxidation catalyst, and adds DEF/AdBlue to the exhaust stream to meet Stage V emissions regulations, but doesn’t use exhaust gas recirculation meaning a lower operating temperature.
DEF consumption is claimed to be 6.5% of total diesel usage – but Fendt suggests this is more than offset by the reduction in overall fuel consumption. The first engine oil service occurs at 500hr, with no 50hr first service change, and servicing is further added by maintenance-free hydraulic tappets.
“A four-cylinder engine and a tractor designed specifically around it gives us a number of advantages at this output,” suggests Phil Mattey, Fendt tractor specialist at AGCO. “We retain the high performance of a six-cylinder engine at this power level but benefit from a shorter design that’s more manoeuvrable, a high payload, and low power-to-weight ratio.”
Created specifically for the 600 Vario tractors, the TA150 continuously-variable transmission nevertheless inherits many features and characteristics of the TA Vario units recently designed and launched for other Fendt tractor ranges. They include a single range design with uninterrupted stepless travel right through to 50km/h.
VARIODRIVE
It’s teamed with VarioDrive, a completely new iteration of Fendt’s continuously variable transmission technology. At its heart is a single-range drivetrain meaning no interruption to drive when reaching the road and seeking maximum travel speed, with independent front and rear axle control.
The transmission continuously measures wheelslip on all four wheels and regulates the power input to each wheel accordingly. This transmission design, claims Fendt, maximises tractive force while protecting the soil from slip, minimising tyre wear and enhancing manoeuvrability.
The front axle drive system goes a step further than traditional 4wd. During turning, a central hydraulic pump supplying twin motors front and rear helps the front axle to be driven faster than the rear, pulling the front of the tractor around more quickly into the turn and reducing its turning circle – with its 2.7m wheelbase, a 620 with 540/65 R30 tyres has a figure of 10.1m, significantly smaller than for a 700 series tractor.
This also helps to reduce headland scuffing even when turning at full lock on cultivated stubble, believes Fendt, which suggests it may find particular appeal for users working with root crop/vegetable beds. Rear tyres up to a maximum diameter of 1.95m can be fitted to 600 series tractors, with the Fendt 620 Vario featuring 650/65 R42 units as standard.
Power-to-weight ratio is 34.4kg/hp and depending on the work application, the range can be flexibly ballasted via the front linkage and rear wheels. A gross vehicle weight is up to 13.5t, so despite the lighter overall bulk of the four-cylinder design, the 600 series is capable of safely hauling and stopping heavy trailed loads with ease when at speed on the road, says Fendt.
“The four-cylinder design offers much more, though,” claims Phil. “Permitted payload on the 600 Vario series is 5.8t, so it’s well-suited to handling heavy front and rear implement loads. Another major advantage is the ratio of payload to operating weight, where that 5.8t figure and 7.7t operating weight combination means the 600 Vario range achieves a 75% index, which is especially high in the compact standard tractor class.
“But the principle is, that the tractor can be ballasted to take on tougher tasks if required – with the addition of front linkage and rear axle weights it’s possible to take that base weight of 7.7t up to the maximum gross weight of 13.5t. The power is there; the weight can be added and the manoeuvrability of the four-cylinder design remains, along with those steering advances.”
Safety-wise, there’s a hydraulic dual-circuit braking system, Fendt’s Reaction Steering with integrated return torque, and a brake light and deceleration assistant. A new trailer brake assistant enhances safety when the tractor/trailer combination is travelling downhill at speeds of up to 25 km/h, with a sensor measuring the thrust torque of the trailer via the transmission. If this detects that the trailer is pushing the tractor above a pre-set safety limit, it automatically activates the trailer’s air braking system.
Of course, while drawbar pull is one factor with a tractor of this size, hydraulic power – in terms of both rear linkage lift capacity and remote valve flow and pressure – is equally as important. With the 600 Vario series, there are hydraulic pump options of 152 l/min or 205 l/min, both operating at 200 bar, and the 600 models inherit the 700 Gen7 series’ flat-face hydraulic connections front and rear, with up to five rear remotes plus power beyond and up to two front remotes, plus three mid-mount valves for those equipping their tractor with a loader.
The design allows the use of standard or flat-face hydraulic couplings whereas the new draft control for the 9790kg capacity rear linkage shifts the weight of the implement proportionally to the rear axle of the tractor, to boost its tractive capability.
Loader users can choose to use a dedicated three-way proportional valve connection to allow functions without losing services front or rear. Designed especially for the 600 Vario series, the new 3.4t lift CargoProfi 5.90 loader features a new hydraulic and electrical multi-coupler with hydraulic attachment locking, weighing and return-to-dig functions.
Claiming it’s committed to keeping tractors up to date for customers, Fendt says continuous updates of the tractors’ operating system are possible via the FendtOne operating system. It features an open system architecture that, it explains, is being continuously grown and developed with partners and software. In this way, efficiency is maintained, the machine remains up-to-date and residual value is heightened, suggests Fendt.
FENDTONE BENEFITS
The FendtOne onboard and offboard systems are designed to combine smart farming and farm management solutions for field and office use. In FendtOne onboard, the multifunction joystick, a 10” digital dashboard and a 12” terminal on the armrest are standard. The optional 3L joystick in FendtOne onboard and another 12” terminal in the headliner can be specified for additional applications.
Smart functions such as the Fendt Guide guidance system, automatic Fendt Section Control or the use of Fendt Variable Rate Control are displayed as required on the individually assignable tiles on the terminals. For the first time, operators can now control implements by section on short work directly via the tractor terminal screen.
Arguably, the most interesting developments for FendtOne are its variable rate, tramline, TIM and slope compensation technologies. The new Fendt Implement Slope Compensation option allows drivers to specify an override of the target slope by setting a correction value per degree of slope. Working with an additional signal receiver on the implement, the tractor then automatically corrects its course depending on the current slope, keeping the implement on-track.
A Tramline Control update for ISOBUS-capable machines in the Fendt Section Control function package now enables the exchange of certain information between the tractor and attached drill. To optimally create tramlines, they’re automatically calculated using the tractor’s position data. Based on the previously defined rhythm, the sowing units are switched automatically to create the tramlines.
The linking of FendtOne’s section control and variable rate control capabilities now makes it possible to reduce application rates to zero on an ad hoc basis, and work with spot spraying application maps. This enables fast switching of the nozzle bodies, points out Fendt, while it can also be used to create no-application zones.
TRACTOR IMPLEMENT MANAGEMENT
Lastly, the Fendt Tractor Implement Management (TIM) function is optionally available for all Fendt 600 Vario Profi+ machines with ISOBUS functionality. TIM allows compatible powered implements to control certain tractor functions to ensure optimum implement performance. The TIM Hitch and TIM PTO function extensions now enable the attachment to control the linkage as well as the PTO shaft, with example applications including automatic adjustment of working depth using application maps so that deep cultivation is performed only where necessary to reduce soil and steel use and protect soil structure.
Established for some time now on larger tractors in its range, Fendt has extended the availability of its VarioGrip variable tyre pressure system down to the latest 600 Vario models. Claimed to reduce wheelslip and ground pressure-induced soil damage – thereby protect against ground compaction and subsequent crop yield impacts – the fully integrated Fendt VarioGrip central tyre inflation system works with compatible VF tyres, which have a 40% variable tyre pressure band throughout which they can work.
The system reduces pressures in the field to an operator-selected, tyre manufacturer-approved level in a matter of seconds, increasing the contact patch of the tyres, boosting tractive power by up to 8% through more cleats on the ground, and can reduce fuel consumption by the same figure thereby increasing tractor/implement combination productivity, suggests Fendt.
Reinflating the tyres before leaving the field and heading out onto the road means reduced rolling resistance, leading to a further 2.0% fuel saving, adds Fendt, pointing to analysis carried out by Germany’s South Westphalia University of Applied Sciences.
Using the FendtOne terminal in the tractor, the driver simply taps in the required pressure settings and the dual-line tyre pressure control system does the rest. Fendt VarioGrip can be ordered directly from the factory for both flanged and stub axles, for row-crop with dual tyres and also with wheel weights, says Fendt, pointing out that its broadened export markets mean a wider range of design and feature options have been created for its tractors.
This article was taken from the latest issue of CPM. Read the article in full here.
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