Providing it is not a late April Fool’s joke then this picture seems to suggest Claas is developing a new Xerion, and it’s got rubber tracks! Snapped by a Czech photographer, apparently it concerns a prototype of a Xerion 4000 X-Trac VC. This is not the first Xerion on tracks. When Claas lost the Challenger rubber tracked tractor business to AGCO, it put a set of Stocks tracks on a Xerion for field tests. More recently, Dutch-firm Zuidberg, which offers retro-fit kits for a wide range of tractors and self-propelled machines, installed a set on a Austrian-owned Xerion 3800. We cannot yet confirm the supplier of the tracks fitted to this latest tractor, but they do look suspiciously like they come from a Case IH Quadtrac. This picture could be a clever bit of photo-shopping. If not, then the tractor would need to be articulated because there is not much room to turn the front tracks. Providing it is not a hoax then one burning question is when it will officially break cover. The rumours circulating the internet suggest a first public outing at Agritechnica this November, with availability during the second half of next year. We will have to wait and see.