How remap improved road haulage performance for Essex farmer

Negotiating hills without slowing to a crawl and providing power where it was required for field operations were the main goals when Ben Fisher picked up the phone to Avon Tuning HD.

Essex farmer Ben Fisher was having issues with his JCB Fastrac feeling underpowered on road haulage duties, a task that is widely considered this model’s bread and butter.

Ben Fisher says the remap has made the Fastrac 4220 a better all-round tractor for haulage and cultivation work © Avon Tuning HD

Lugging loads is a large part of the workload for Ben and his team, who run a diversified arable farm in Southminster, Essex.

Along with hauling crops from the combines at harvest, there’s carting of manures and poultry litter to field pads from a nearby chicken farm and moving various materials for construction projects throughout the year.

For this work, Ben has used Fastracs for several decades. The first one was purchased by his father and Ben, who is the third generation on the farm, has stayed true to the brand for the superior road performance and versatility.

He explains: “There’s not a tractor on the market that can match the Fastrac for road comfort, visibility and speed.

“They suit the work perfectly, which is why we have three in our fleet to keep us going when we’re busy. Our land is spread out so we do spend a lot of time on the road.”

Sluggish performance

Ben’s latest model, an 18 plate JCB Fastrac 4220, was struggling to haul loaded trailers up some of the steeper hills around the farm, while pulling away fully loaded from the combine was also a sluggish affair.

During a visit to Cereals 2025, Ben headed to the Avon Tuning HD stand to speak to the team about options for his 4220 to improve overall performance.

The Fastrac 4220 is a key part of the fleet and the Avon Tuning HD engine remap has improved its versatility and performance across all tasks © Avon Tuning HD

Following discussions on stand, the Avon Tuning HD team arrived on farm to install a remap just as harvest began.

As standard the engineers performed a health check on the tractor to ensure it could handle the power increase and there were no underlying mechanical issues. Ben says this attention to detail was brilliant.

“We were combining at the time, so I had to leave them to it, but the service was excellent, and they ended up staying a bit longer due to an unforeseen issue they wanted to clear before applying the remap.

They were professional and ensured the map was working correctly before leaving.”

Gearbox modification

Will Ashman, Technical Sales Engineer at Avon Tuning HD, said poor performance during haulage tasks is a common complaint from users, but the remap of Ben’s Fastrac required a greater attention to detail than a standard remap.

Will Ashman says the knowledge and technical ability of the Avon Tuning team allowed the remap to work at its full potential © AVON TUNING HD

“We’ve been remapping all sorts of agricultural machinery for over a decade now and this knowledge is passed down to our extensive agent network.

In Ben’s case, the ML 180 CVT transmission on the JCB Fastrac 4220 needed to be modified to allow full, unrestricted engine torque to be delivered to the wheels when it was required by the tractor.

“This is where the knowledge of an experienced company is essential when dealing with equipment that is so important to farmers every day.

“Without this modification, it’s unlikely that Ben and his operators would’ve felt the full performance upgrade of the remap,” says Will.

Difference

Once the remap was completed, the Fastrac was straight back to work carting grain to the stores with an 18t trailer. The feedback from the operator was immediate.

“It’s fair to say we were unsure if it would make a noticeable difference, but the improvements were obvious.

“We used to struggle up hills but now have a lot more torque in the right place and the tractor holds on for much longer and maintains a constant speed.”

Hauling various trailers is a large part of the Fastrac’s workload which has been improved by the engine remap © Avon Tuning HD

From a safety perspective, Ben says this has made a big difference, as negotiating hills without slowing to a crawl means cars are less likely to overtake in dangerous places.

It’s also noticeable when pulling away from the combine loaded and it has improved turnaround times, so we’re less likely to have the combine stood still for extended periods.

“When the 4220 pulls away after being loaded by the combine, there’s no scratching to get grip. The extra low-down torque means the engine can use all its power in the right way.

“Pulling away on the road is now much quicker, whereas before it used to really struggle to get up to speed.”

One of Ben’s hopes following the remapping was to make it more of an all-rounder to take on some of the field tasks, as well as the regular haulage.

Ben concludes: “This extra performance has made the tractor a lot more versatile to fit in with our diversified workload.

The professional service we’ve received from Avon Tuning HD, and the reliability of the tractor, means I would be straight on the phone to Avon again should I need another tractor remapped.”