John Deere will show a 9.0-litre concept engine at Agritechnica that can run on ethanol. We believe the company will also have a green version of a Mazzotti self-propelled sprayer on the stand.
The company says it continues to vet and test new technologies that simplify the integration of renewable fuels with combustion engine technology, but considers biodiesel, renewable diesel (or HVO), and ethanol to be the most promising options for near-term future in heavy duty applications. As a high-octane fuel ethanol, Deere reckons that an alcohol-based fuel that can be made from maize, wheat or sugar cane, is attractive for high performance spark ignited engines.
Ahead of the show, the company is keener to talk about the new stand layout, and less about tractors and machine that will be on it. Providing our Dutch colleagues at Mechaman are correct then the first Mazzotti self-propelled sprayer finished in green and with John Deere branding will be at Agritechnica.
Known as the 300M series, the 332m and 340M are apparently based on the 3,000 and 4000l Mazzotti machines. According to the Dutch website, the 4,000l machine will be on the stand.
It is not yet known what else John Deere will bring to Hannover although it would certainly be an ideal podium to take the power of the rubber tracked RX range to well north of 700hp to bring it in line with the 778hp Quadtrac 715, which we know will be on the Case IH stand.
Grainy pictures of what appears to be a RX with larger tracks, frame and bonnet than the current 9RX640, have been spotted online this year (See link below), so we wouldn’t be surprised if John Deere decided to park it on the stand to steal some of the limelight from Case IH.
Developed by German company Crop.Zone in conjunction with John Deere, Dual.Volt.24M is one of the five Agritechnica Agrifuture concept winners. We do not know if the 24m hybrid electric weeder c/w band spraying system will be at the show.
They will be harder to spot, but the show innovation awards provide a few pointers of some confirmed highlights to look out for. Although none of the eight submitted entries won a medal, there were some interesting novelties.
For example, Active Slope Adjustment provides active material re-distribution on the cleaning shoe of a combine harvester by a variable speed conveyor belt when working on hillsides. The company reckons it is better than all currently available slope compensation systems. Combine AutoUnload is also new. This automatically fills the trailer using a stereo camera and machine guidance systems on the combine and tractor, without spillage or slowing down.
AutoPath for tractors is also interesting. Based on the field boundary and working width of the implement it automatically creates guidance lines for the entire field including headland. Benefits include reduced set up times and ease of switching between guidance lines and field plans.
The QuadRate Pro on the ValoTerra Monosem planter is believed to be the first system to manage and document the row-by-row variable rate application of seed, fertiliser and two micro-granulates simultaneously.
Also entered for the innovation award was EZCal Remote. Enabling automatic calibration of seed and fertiliser for drill hoppers without touching the metering system, it is said to cut calibration times by 60%.
New Quadtrac king nearly 780hp – Profi
Case IH and Deere battle to 750hp+ – Profi
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