Case multi tractor test

Loads of choice but which one do you go for? In some sectors of the tractor market, the amount of choice facing buyers can make life confusing. Emily Padfield, Nick Fone and David Cousins looked at Case IH’s 100hp offering, which encompasses five models.

No one could ever say that the British farmer lacked variety when it came to tractors. With 18 brands and a total of 670-odd models, you would need to be a truly pernickety buyer to fail to find something that suited you.

In some parts of the market, though, the degree of choice has gone from being just generous to verging on the confusing.

Take Case IH tractors around the 100hp mark, where the maker offers five different models. You might reasonably imagine that they’re the same basic tractor with a slightly more ratio-rich gearbox here or a powershuttle instead of a manual shuttle there.

You’d be wrong, though. The company offers five distinct models, all quite different (though obviously with some common components) and all with a different driving feel.

Model:	Maxxum 110	JXU 105	CS 105 Pro	JX 90	Quantum 95C
Driveability:
Cab:
Rated power:	112hp	106hp	101hp	88hp	97hp
Max torque:	510Nm @ 1400rpm	425Nm @ 1400rpm	397Nm @ 1400rpm	375Nm @ 1300rpm	398 @ 1300rpm
Engine:	4.5-litre CNH/Iveco NEF	4.5-litre CNH/Iveco NEF	4.4-litre Sisu	4.5-litre CNH/Iveco NEF	4.5-litre CNH/Iveco NEF
Transmission:	16F x 16R, 4-speed powershift with 2 powered range changes and mechanical Hi-Lo	24F x 24R, 3-range, 4-speed manual with clutchless splitter and powershuttle	16F x 8R, 2-range, 4-speed maunual with clutchless splitter and powershuttle	12F x 12R, all-mechanical 3-range, 4-speed manual	16F x 16R, all-mechanical 4-range, 4-speed manual
4wd/Diff-lock:	Elec/Elec	Elec/Elec	Elec/Elec	Mech/Mech	Mech/Mech
Max hydraulic flow	80-litre/min (113-l/min*)	61-litre/min (80-l/min*)	86-litre/min	45-litre/min (61-l/min*)	48-litre/min (64-l/min*)
Linkage lift	Cat 3, 7.8t	Cat 2, 4.9t	Cat 3, 4.9t	Cat 2, 3.5t	Cat 2, 2.9t
Weight	4.8t	4.3t	4.2t	3.7t	3.2t
Min turning circle	8.1m	8.1m	9.6m	10.2m	7.8m
PTO speeds	540/540E/ 1000	540/540E/ 1000/groundspeed	430/540/ 540E/1000	540/540E/ groundspeed	540/540E/ 1000/groundspeed
Standard tyres	Front - 13.6R24 Rear - 16.9R34	Front - 380/70R24 Rear 480/70R34	Front - 13.6R24 Rear - 16.9R34	Front - 13.6R24 Rear - 16.9R34	Front - 11.2R24 Rear 16.9R30
Service interval	600hours	600hours	500hours	600hours	600hours
Price	£51,060	£45,160	£49,820	£33,721	£32,999
Fantasy farmers	What types of farmer are likely to buy these five distinctly different models? We reckon it’s a case of horses for courses. Five farmers with very different needs spring to mind (names have been changed to protect their identities)
Fantasy farmers	Farmer Alfred has 300 acres and 120 dairy cows. He already has a 90hp tractor for the feeder wagon and yard work but needs a bigger tractor for loader-work and fieldwork.	Farmer Bernard runs 140 suckler cows and 250 followers. The JX105 is required for handling and stacking round-bale silage as well as running it out to feeders in the winter. It is also responsible for fert-spreading, pasture rejuvenation and some autumn fieldwork.	Farmer Charlie has 200 acres of hill ground plus 70 acres of lowland silage ground. He likes the sophistication the Austrian tractor offers as well as the refinement of the Sisu engine and ZF gearbox – a definite plus-point when he’s out mowing and round-baling until the early hours.	Farmer Edward manages a 600-head dairy and can’t afford to have machinery downtime, preferring to spend time on cow husbandry rather than spinning spanners. He’s taken the step of shelling out on a brand-new scraper tractor, an expense easily justified given the hassle the farm’s previous yard tractor gave.	Farmer Denzel has 150 cows and a set of old, cramped buildings. He chose the Quantum because of its small stature and mechanical simplicity, making it ideal to squeeze the straw-chopper, scraper and feeder-wagon down narrow passageways and through low doorways.

Gearboxes

From an operator’s point of view the two key differences between all these tractors lie with the cabs and gearboxes.

Gearboxes range from the simplest of simple all-mechanical stick-shifter to an all-singing, all-dancing computer-controlled powershift.

Originally designed at Basildon but now built at the Steyr/Case IH plant in St. Valentin, Austria, the Maxxum 110 has clear lineage back to early 1990s Fords.

The 4-range, 4-speed powershift instantly brings back memories of SLE-spec’d 40-series tractors, although there are fewer manual changes thanks to a powered step between ranges B and C.

In a move to put a stamp on this as a Case IH tractor, the powershift rocker-switch is positioned on the chunky leather-and-chrome-topped hand throttle, a clear nod to the Maxxum’s meatier American siblings – Magnums and Steigers.

At the other extreme, the JX90 and Quantum C are about as simple as it gets. While the former has a 12F x 12R box derived through four synchronised gears and three ranges, the latter has a 4-range box.

In both cases a lever on the left-hand side handles mechanical shunts between forward and reverse – in just the right position for loader work.

The JXU and CS Pro fill the middle ground. As well as its Nordic power-plant, the Austrian-built CS’s transmission clearly marks its Case/Steyr heritage.

It employs the same 2-range, 4-speed gearbox developed by ZF and Steyr more than 15 years ago.

Its bendy powershuttle stalk lacks a neutral position (the clutch-packs disengage with a squeeze of the wand) and the clutchless splitter only works with the forward gears – two minor annoyances.

The JXU is more conventional, using a familiar 24F x 24R CNH transmission derived through a 3-range, 4-speed mechanical box with clutchless splitter and powershuttle.

Linkage and hydraulics

As you would expect from the highest-spec offering, the Maxxum has electronic hitch control as standard with the main functions integrated into the armrest.

Convenient enough to tweak, it is slightly overcomplicated by a draft response frequency dial as well as sensitivity adjustment.

The CS Pro sticks with Steyr’s traditional electronic set-up which is pretty much idiot-proof. It’s slightly marred however by poor labelling.

Lying next to each other, two identically-marked rocker-switches are easily confused – one handles fast lift/drop, the other allowing bit-by-bit tweaks of implement position.

The two standard spool-valves are looked after by a cross-lever – handy if you’re not so keen on permanently plumbing in a loader but we’d rather have independent levers.

The remaining three – the JXU 105, JX90 and Quantum C are all built at the ex-Fiatagri plant at Jesi in Italy and have inherited a cunningly simple linkage control.

Originally found on Fiat’s 90-series tractors, the fast raise/drop control combines a mechanical linkage with a spring-loaded clunk-click switch to give the same functionality as electronic controls but without the complexity. Two arm-hydraulic levers then handle position and draft.

All but the JX90 and Quantum C now have Bosch spool-valves.

Engines

The engine is the common denominator for all but one of the models on test. Maxxum, JXU and JX models all use a 4-cylinder 4.5-litre Case IH Nef engine, as does the Quantum 95C, whereas the Quantum 75C uses a FPT 3.2-litre engine.

Each turbo-charged and intercooled block uses a mechanical fuel injection system. However, it’s possible to spec the Maxxum with electronic governing, meaning it can boost from 112hp to 142hp.

The mechanically-governed four-cylinder turbo-charged and intercooled Sisu power plant in the Austrian-built CS harks back to the collaboration between Sisu and Steyr in days gone by. In the CS 105 Pro, this delivers 102hp and a maximum torque of 397Nm at 1400rpm.

Nef engines have a service interval of 600hrs, the Sisu 500hrs.