Claas joins tracked big boys

14 August 1998




Claas joins tracked big boys

Claas Challenger 75E –

340hp of tracked muscle –

slipped into the UK with

hardly a murmur earlier this

year. Ian Marshall drives one

of the first to go out on farm

WITH its 340hp Challenger 75E Claas moves into the big league of the tracklayer sector of the market.

Introduced at last Novembers German Agritechnica Show it replaces the 335hp Caterpillar 75D and puts the Claas name and green and white livery on the most powerful model the company sells in Europe.

farmers weekly caught up with one of the first models in the UK in Suffolk, where this autumn Oliver Coopers Challenger 75E will be taking on all the primary cultivation work on the 400ha (1000 acres) of heavy land he farms at Great Bricett Hall, Great Bricett.

On first seeing the 75E it is difficult not to state the obvious – it is big. Climb the steps into the cab and the sensation is not dispelled. The operator sits 2m (7ft) above the ground. To each side is about 92cm (3ft) of track wing; to the front stretches the bonnet and 10.3 litres of 6-cyl of engine, which takes up over half of the machines 6m (19.6ft) length.

In keeping with the rest of the 75E, its cab is spacious. There is more than enough room for the operator on his fully adjustable swivelling seat and a passenger on the buddy seat. Driver arm length is catered for by a telescoping and tilting steering wheel and the controls are easily reached and well laid out on a console to the operators right. Visibility to the immediate front of the tractor, and of the implement is excellent.

With the engine running and at a standstill, the 75E is a docile beast and its handling characteristics do not change when underway.

Once on the move, it does not take long to forget how large the tractor is. Engine revs are set on a hand throttle. Gears are laid out in line with selection by a single lever, which allows easy straightforward changing up and down the 10 forward/two reverse, 25mph, full powershift transmission.

And the steering is extremely light and positive. Turn the wheel gradually and the Challenger responds like a wheeled tractor; it is only when tight turns are executed that it acts like a conventional crawler. And, when changing direction at the end of a run in the field, the value of the Challengers de-accelerator pedal is appreciated. Depressing it brings the engine revs down, which leaves the drivers hands free to operate the hydraulics to lift the implement out of work while making a controlled turn. Once back into work, releasing the pedal restores the pre-set working revs.

With 340hp on call, there is no doubt that the Challenger 75E can handle heavy draught work.

At Great Bricett Hall, Mr Cooper will have it on the front of a home-made 6m (19.6ft) chisel plough in tandem with a 6.6m Simba double ring press. It will also work with a Kverneland RX101 10 furrow semi-mounted reversible, an 8m (26ft) Simba Top Tilth and will pull the farms 8m Vaderstad Rapid 800F drill.

With a three-point linkage rated at 5.6 tonnes, mounted implements will not pose it any problems either.

farmers weekly did not have the chance to try out the Caterpillar sourced, electronically controlled linkage, but it is at the back end that the Challenger 75E comes in for user criticism.

"The linkage itself is good, but as the Challenger is used mostly for draught work in America, it is not a practical design," says Mr Cooper. "With an implement attached there is no space to adjust the top link."

Mr Cooper has resolved this problem to some extent by replacing the manually adjusted top link with a farm-made double acting hydraulic top link, as he did on its predecessor – a Challenger 65.

As the 75E will not be confined to drawbar work in the UK, it is a feature which lets down an otherwise sophisticated tractor which, given the acres, could justify its £135,000 price tag. &#42

CLAASCHALLENGER 75E

&#8226 Engine 6-cyl Caterpillar, turbo-charged and after-cooled with 340hp rated output.

&#8226 Estimated drawbar power at 1900rpm 263hp.

&#8226 Transmission 10 forward/two reverse full powershift, 25mph.

&#8226 Three-point linkage Standard, max rated lift capacity 5.6t.

&#8226 Hydraulics Pump output 151 litres/min at 2900psi.

&#8226 Pto Standard 1000rpm.

&#8226 Basic weight 14.5t.

&#8226 Price £135,000.


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