Mass-market New Hollands move to Stage IV

In 2015 New Holland gave its T7 arable tractors a Stage IV engine emission makeover. This year it’s the turn of the livestock/mixed farming T5 and T6. Yet the Basildon-based manufacturer is at pains to point out that both of these model lines represent more than a mere emission-prompted revamp. For a start they look different, not radically so but certainly enough to clearly distinguish them from their Stage IIIB predecessors. Main styling changes are the adoption of a broader T7 profile bonnet, daytime running lights and more illuminating LED lighting pack options — up to eight LEDs on the T5, up to 16 on the bigger T6. Aesthetics aside, there’s a healthy lump of fresh hardware meat to tempt currently depressed mid-hp buyers into signing up. Taking the T5 first, the model number remains at three — T5.100 (99hp max), T5.110 (107hp max) and T5.120 (117hp max). That equates to a modest 2-4hp rise over the old tractors, albeit with a much more significant 24% increase in torque back-up, while Stage IV emission compliance comes from the 3.4-litre FPT motor’s use of Adblue for the first time. To be more specific, the reduced pollutant levels are achieved by the combination of a diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC), selective catalytic reduction (SCR) and low-rate exhaust gas recirculation (EGR). The diesel particulate filter (DPF) has now gone, so there’s no need for regeneration. Back from the engine all T5 tractors drive through a 16F/16R Electro Command transmission (32F/32R creeper option), which is controlled by either the main gear lever or buttons to the driver’s right. A further option is to take the new electro-hydraulic or mechanical joystick — this lever operates up and down shifts, transmission declutch and up to three loader functions — again positioned conveniently to the right of the driver’s seat. Electro Command now has Auto Field and Auto Road modes, and the operator can also adjust shuttle modulation according to taste and application. Down below, the option list extends to Terraglide front suspension and Comfort Ride cab suspension — importantly for stock farmers with low buildings, cab suspension doesn’t increase overall tractor height when compared with current T5 Electro Command tractors — and a heavier duty front axle option now allows the fitting of 28in tyres. Other neat touches include a 200°-sweep front windscreen wiper, large telescopic mirrors and the ability to mount a wider frame loader for improved stability; loader beam spacing goes up from 916mm to 1,100mm. Interestingly, New Holland reckons around 25% of T5 tractors leave the Jesi factory with a loader in place, and up to 50% of T5s will host a loader at some time in their life. Moving on to the Stage IV T6 family, there’s a shift in focus from six cylinders to four, to the extent that only one six-cylinder unit remains — the 175hp max T6.180, which, ironically, is likely to be one of the new T6’s top sellers in the UK. All of the other five tractors are four-pot machines — T6.125 (125hp max), T6.145 (145hp max), T6.155 (155hp max), T6.165 (168hp max) and T6.175 (175hp max) — to achieve maximum fuel efficiency within the emission constraints placed on them by Stage IV regs; quoted max powers include New Holland’s EPM boost. Pollutant curbing hardware takes the form of SCR as before, but now with the addition of a DOC and clean-up catalyst.    Of the other changes to T6 spec, arguably the most significant is the extension of four-cylinder model wheelbase to that of the six-pot (2.68m), with the smaller engine shifting its position forward by 25cm as a result. This is reckoned to improve the four-cyl tractors’ ride, stability and balance, although, critically, there’s no associated expansion in their 8.6m turning circle. An equally important benefit of the longer wheelbase is that fuel tank capacity gains a whopping 55-litre increase, up from 175 litres to 230 litres. This should give full-day working capability whereas the Stage IIIB tractors generally need a tea-time top-up.  Transmission-wise it’s much the same as before — Electro Command or Auto Command CVT, though T6.180 buyers should take note that, for now at least, there’s no CVT option on the six-cylinder model, and the same applies to the entry four-pot, the T6.125. Other T6 Stage IV upgrades run to an improved front suspension, full IntelliSteer auto-steering ready option packs on all models, ISObus Class III and Headland Turn Sequence II. In terms of availability and price, both Stage IV T5 and T6 ranges will make their debuts on this side of the Channel at the upcoming UK and Irish grassland events before starting to appear on farm in the second half of 2016; current Stage IIIB models remain on sale until the end of year. For those buyers looking to access the new Stage IV technology and spec, they can expect to pay a premium of no more than 10% over the Stage IIIB run-out machines.