A wind of change is blowing through the Basildon plant and one that will soon see
Case IH and Steyr tractors for the European market built alongside the New Holland T6 and T7 ranges as we discovered on a recent visit.

BASILDON PLANT IN BRIEF:

  • It cost £20 million to build in 1964. It would cost £200 million to build it today.
  • The plant covers 12.6ha of the 40ha (100 acre) site. One fifth of the 370 suppliers are UK-based.
  • Providing jobs for 3,500 people, at full capacity the plant produced 300 tractors, and 500 engines and front axles a day.
  • 500,000th tractor made in 1984, one-millionth in 1989, and the 1,500,000th tractor left the line in 1995.
  • Volume wise, Basildon is the largest of CNH’s 42 global manufacturing facilities.
  • Staff numbers drop significantly from 3,500 in 1964 to just 650 today.
  • In 2022, 90% of the roughly 16,000 tractors made in Basildon were exported. The destination of the lion’s share (49%) was Europe, although tractors are exported to 120+ countries.
90% of all tractors made in Basildon are exported. The destination for half of them is Europe.

2024 was a milestone year for the CNH plant in Basildon, which not only produced the two-millionth tractor, but also celebrated its 60th anniversary. Opened in 1964 on a greenfield site, the skyline of the plant, which started out making Ford tractors and engines, is dominated by the lofty and listed ‘white onion’ water tower.

For those of you that are old enough to remember, the 2000  to 5000 models (from 37-65hp) were the first blue and white Ford tractors assembled at Basildon. Popular Ford tractors from the 1970s included the 600-series (2600 to 7600, 37-97hp), then various 10-series tractors and later the 40 series (75-125hp) were made here in the 90s. So too were the New Holland 60 and Fiatagri M series (100-165hp).

Indeed, there have been many more ranges since, including the TS-A (101-169hp) in 2003, and the T7000 (228-270hp) Auto Command in 2009. The latter was joined by the T6 Dynamic Command (116-180hp) in 2017, and ever since Basildon has been home to these two ranges.

The T6 accounts for approx. 45% of production. The T7 makes up the rest and is roughly split 50:50 between short and long wheelbase models.

Present production

Today, the six-model (120-175hp) T6 accounts for 45% of production. The five-standard wheelbase (140-225hp) and four long wheel base (185-270hp) T7s are also built here, each one good for 25% of production, and Basildon is the only CNH plant globally that produces the 175hp T6.180 methane tractor since production started in 2021.

After detailed presentations by David Redman (tractor product specialist UK & ROI for T6/Maxxum and T7 SWB/Puma SWB), and Andrew Dunne (global brand marketing), it was time to enter the plant. A comfy pair of steel capped shoes are needed for the tour of the 2.0km production line.

200 work stations are needed to build a new T6 or T7 and the total length of the production line is 2.0km.

The building dates from the very beginning, but much has changed on the inside in terms of machinery, and robots have played an important role in the tractor assembly process since the first one arrived in 1982.

Coming together

Making a new tractor involves 160 different stations and a mix of high- and low-spec options provides the ideal balance on the line, which runs from 6.45am to 15.45 from Monday to Thursday, followed by a shorter 6.45am to 11.45am shift on Friday. All workers stop for 30 minutes for lunch and have three additional coffee breaks.

Today, Basildon is an assembly plant, nothing is made here. Hydraulic pumps, bonnets, wheel rims, etc, are all outsourced, but the driveline, engine and front axle are all made at CNH plants in Europe. CVTs come from Antwerp (Belgium), semi-powershift/Dynamic Command and axles from Modena (Italy). The FPT engines are also built in Italy (Turin). 

The tractor assembly process begins with the marriage of these crucial components. Basildon is the first time they all meet.

AGVs play an important role with the marrying of the driveline, engine and front axle.

Shifting these hefty parts around the different assembly stations is the responsibility of nine Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs). The plant once produced tractors up to a maximum of 75hp with an average weight of 2.0t. The power of today’s tractors has increased to 270hp, with weights averaging 9.5t. In operation since 2002, the AGVs to match the transmission and rear axle to the front axle and engine, before the driveline starts its journey along the 2.0km assembly line

An AGV delivers a completed chassis to the monorail. From here it is off to the paint shop.
The first part of the painting process is manual. The top coat is a job for a 2023-commissioned robotic system. Around 8.0l of paint is needed per tractor.
It takes four highly-skilled staff just six minutes to deck a cab on a chassis. Now it is starting to look like a tractor.
Engine hoods are also hoisted into place with a suction pad system. This is a T6.145.

Each chassis is shackled to a monorail suspended from the ceiling. It is then fitted with everything that needs to be painted, such as the hydraulic pipework, prop shaft and front brakes. The new robotic painting plant and monolayer paint system installed in 2023 is among the most advanced across all CNH factories. However, while robots take care of the first part of the spraying process, skilful humans are needed for the harder-to-reach areas.

By the time the cab shell reaches the end of the 25-station assembly line it is ready to be hoisted onto a tractor.

The bit on top

Cab shells are supplied by the CNH Croix facility in France. Running parallel to the main line, the stand-alone 25-station cab assembly line was opened in 2014. Here all seats, interiors, trims, harnesses, roof, lights, etc, are all added.

One of the things that struck me on the assembly line is the number of solutions designed to make life easier for staff. Take the bulky cab roof, for example. Manually lifting it into position is a thing of the past because staff now use what is internally known as a cab roof manipulator.

With suction pads attached to the end of an electrically-powered arm, the cab roof manipulator takes the hard work out of fitting a cab roof.

Developed in-house, and installed just a couple of years ago, this uses suction pads attached to the end of an electrically-powered arm to hoist a roof to the top of the cab and gently lower it into position. The new system not only takes out all the heavy work but is also kinder on the paintwork.

Cab assembly was moved to a central area in the plant in 2014.
Mudguards are big and heavy. A mudguard manipulator will simplify this. It is expected to be installed on the line early in 2025.

Modern seats are big lumps, and the easiest way to get them inside the cab is to drop them through the roof before the lid goes on. Mudguards are also big and heavy, and a similar manipulator is in development to fit them. It is expected to be installed on the line early 2025. Two to two-and-a-half hours later, the cab is lifted by a hoist on to the driveline. Further along the line, the bonnet is added.

More tractors

Also worth a mention is that when the plant opened in 1964 it made four models from 37-65hp. This number has risen to 19 models today and the power is up too, 100-270hp. There are so many different options that only 1.5% of tractors are the same, in theory no two tractors made each year are identical.

When the plant opened in 1964 it built four models (37-65hp). Today, 19 models of the T6 and T7 are made from 100-270hp.

For example, there are 27 different types of cab roof across different models, markets and specifications. To ensure this tailor-making is swift and efficient, New Holland has adopted a system that ensures the correct parts reach each tractor at every point in the production process. RFID tags are used for each of the 3,500 boxes of parts in circulation around the plant at any one time. 

One of the final stages of the assembly process sees the wheels fitted to the tractor. Able to support itself, the tractor is lowered from the monorail onto a moving track.

It takes 1.75 days to assemble a tractor. A new one is towed off the assembly line every four minutes and the plant can produce as many as 120 tractors per shift. Each tractor is then subjected to an extensive pre delivery inspection and testing on an indoor rolling road test bench. The tractor is then driven to the outdoor test circuit where the differential, four-wheel drive, brakes and steering are all checked. Each tractor is also run at maximum speed, and the brakes pumped at a moderate forward speed of around 30km/hr (an emergency stop at faster speeds could damage the tyres).

A new tractor is towed off the assembly line every four minutes. The plant can produce as many as 120 tractors a shift. The towing tractors tend to be old test units, this one sporting a special bonnet wrap.
Once it leaves the line every tractor goes through a lengthy check list. This includes a spell on the roller test bed.

The final stage before it is parked in the collection yard is a PDI. Oil levels and lights are checked, as is all interior and exterior paintwork, including the chassis, and any scratches touched up. These two final stages of the tractor making process, the outdoor tests and PDI, take three to four hours.

The top speed, brakes, transmission, differential, four-wheel drive and steering on all new tractors are scrutinised on the outdoor test circuit.

Looking ahead

The Basildon plant has evolved over the past 60 years, and will continue to do so in the future. Recent investments include the painting robots. The monorail, which is the original system installed in the 1960s, is being upgraded to carry the heavier tractors produced today. Half of the 1,000watt electric motors were swapped out last year. The remainder are being changed now.

Another more radical wind of change happening now affects all three CNH tractor brands: New Holland, Case IH and Steyr. Basildon has long produced Case IH Maxxums and Pumas for the rest of the world (not for Europe). These account for roughly one fifth of all tractors produced in Basildon (80% New Holland).

The volumes of Case IH tractors will soon increase because Basildon is about to recommence (ended in 2006) production of all Maxxums (the last EU Case IH tractors built in Basildon were the MXM and MXU) and short wheel base Pumas (140-175) for the European market. Steyr equivalents are also moving from St Valentin to Basildon. T7 HD tractors were built in Basildon from 2015 until 2021 before production moved to Austria to join the Case IH Puma 185-260 and Optum alongside the Steyr Absolut and Terrus .

This Case IH Puma 200 is produced for both North and South America, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. The plant also makes tractors for non-emission markets.
This is the last engine built at the plant. Dating from 2008, more than three million engines were built in Basildon in 44 years.

We are told that Basildon will remain the home of New Holland and St Valentin the base for Case IH. However, this wind of change signals a shift towards building specific product ranges at specific factories.

Steven Vale

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