Launched early last year, Massey Ferguson’s 7400-range flagship, the 7499, offers a compact tractor that puts out 220hp. Emily Padfield visits an estate that has clocked up more than 1200hrs so far.

Holkham Estate, which spans 25,000 acres across Norfolk (including 15 miles of coastline) is one of Britain’s best-known and most historic farms. But things are changing across the farming enterprise, with a lot more land being taken in-hand.

“We had a change in policy in 2007, which led to the acreage being cultivated jumping from 3500 acres to nearly 6500 acres, all farmed in-hand,” explains farm manager Mark Bowyer.

“There’s been a change in balance in the farming enterprise, which means we’ve got different requirements from our machinery. We do a lot of the veg land preparation and irrigation, so we needed a versatile tractor capable of doing field and transport work,” says Mr Bowyer.

Bought as an extra tractor for the fleet, the Massey Ferguson 7499 was chosen to fill the gap between the larger 300hp tractors on the farm and the smaller 190hp machines. “We went for the 7499 as it offered flexibility in terms of the jobs it could do – it’s at the top end of the horsepower bracket that we need and has a decent transmission for road work.”

It’s also a lightweight tractor for its horsepower, he adds. “The physical size of the tractor is also a bonus and allows us to put it on a number of different tasks.”

Since delivery in April 2010, the 7499 has racked up 1100 hours doing just that. The 7.4-litre engine gets praise. “For the horsepower it offers, the 7.4-litre block isn’t stretched to capacity – it’s a large engine for the power it produces, which is a plus as it’s not continually stretched to put out more power than it should.”

Traditionally, Holkham ran a John Deere fleet with two red tractors, explains Mr Bowyer. “But as we’ve changed cropping strategy, we’ve looked at different machinery options. Our long-term aim is to continue with a mixed fleet.”

So far, the 7499 has been responsible for a large percentage of the potato planting with a three-bed tiller on the front. It’s also the main tractor for the 6m Horsch, used for most of the early drilling work. “We used to pull this with the 8320, which is about 40hp more, however we haven’t noticed a loss in performance with the 7499. It’s also used for the three-bed topper, which uses all its 240hp.”

During the summer, the tractor is put on irrigation, transport and other tasks, meaning it’s rarely in the yard. The Dyna VT gearbox is ideal for field work, especially potato planting, adds assistant farm manager Oliver Scott. “The CV1 and CV2 settings are good and they’re straightforward to set. There’s plenty of power when it’s got a bed tiller on the front and a planter on the back.”

Because the estate is so large, road speeds are also important, and the 50kph transmission more than handles road transport duties, he adds. One thing Mr Scott says he would improve would be the lights, particularly on the road. “And when you’ve got something on the front linkage, it’s difficult to see it clearly.”

“The Datatronic system offers more than we need and unfortunately you can’t set the arms on the front linkage, so integrating the headland management for planting isn’t possible.”

The tractor is predominantly set to run in auto and the Dynamic Tractor Management (DTM) function hasn’t been used a lot, but it is something that Mr Bowyer is keen to start using to reduce fuel use. “My gut feeling is that the 7499 is using roughly the same fuel as the 190hp tractor it replaced.”

For the acreage, using traditional horsepower requirement calculations, the estate is using only 60% of what these recommend. “We’re expanding rapidly and we need to be tight on controlling costs. I’d like to reduce this even more,” says Mr Bowyer.

Massey Ferguson 7499

• Engine: six-cylinder 7.4-litre

• Power: 220hp

• Transmission: 50kph DynaVT

Holkham tractor line-up

• Tractors: MF 8480, 7499; John Deere 8320, 6930, 6920, 6620, 6320, 5820

• Telehandlers: Two JCB 570-30s; vintage Volvo loading shovel