Other than a few computer generated 3D images for visitors to view at the recent Italian EIMA and French SIMA shows, McCormick has done a good job of keeping its eagerly-awaited X8 tractor under wraps. The long wait is nearly over, and while parent company Argo Tractors will remove the wraps at Agritechnica in November, this grainy internet image is supposed to be of an X8. It could of course be a clever bit of photo-shopping, but it does vaguely resemble McCormick-made images – albeit with the exhaust on the opposite side. What we are more certain of is that the three-model X8 (260-320hp) is powered by a Stage IV FPT SCR engine, the CVT transmission comes from ZF, and McCormick’s most powerful tractor ever will almost certainly be called the X8 VT-Drive. We understand prototypes are out in the field in Italy, with production planned to start mid-2016. An 8 Series Landini is also in the pipeline, the most likely introduction being at the next EIMA, in November 2016.