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REVIEW<br />
1<br />
kings of the class<br />
A first glance at the<br />
impressive Axion 900 and<br />
Xerion 5000 series tractors<br />
from Claas left us seriously<br />
impressed. Harrison<br />
Hunkin reports<br />
Claas has enjoyed its fair share of machinery innovations<br />
over the years. The early Claas combine harvesters<br />
changed the game in Europe. Then, you have the company’s<br />
core forage equipment and Jaguar forage harvesters. Today, half<br />
of all foragers sold globally are Jaguars.<br />
Somehow, despite all this pedigree and innovation, we tend to<br />
neglect or forget about Claas when talking about the big players<br />
in the agricultural machinery world (John Deere, AGCO, CNH).<br />
Perhaps it’s because Claas is relatively new to the tractor<br />
game, and tractors are the measuring stick when talking about<br />
machinery. Or, is it because this industrious German family-run<br />
company is overshadowed its bigger competitors?<br />
Either way, it is now<br />
FIRST GLANCE<br />
Rewinding to back before the COVID pandemic, we spent the<br />
day with the Claas Axion 960TT and the Xerion 5000TS at a<br />
Claas facility in Germany. At that stage, the Xerion 5000TS was<br />
merely a concept and yet to be released to the world, while the<br />
Axion 960, featuring the new Terra Trac system, had just received<br />
a substantial global launch at the Agritechnica trade fair.<br />
Naturally, our eyes were initially drawn to the Axion 960 and the<br />
Terra Trac, a flat ‘half-track’ system that had been trialled on the<br />
Lexion and Jaguar harvesters, now punched onto the rear of the<br />
company’s flagship Axion tractor. It was an impressive tractor to<br />
look at.<br />
At first glance, it’s clear the Terra Trac system is intended to<br />
act almost like a hybrid between a wheeled tractor and<br />
traditional tracked tractors. It provides the comfort of a wheeled<br />
machine and the flexibility in variable soil conditions that you<br />
get with a traditional tracked machine. Claas claims you get 15<br />
per cent more traction and 50 per cent less ground pressure<br />
with Terra Trac.<br />
And that’s the beauty of this fully suspended flat track style<br />
system – it rides like silk, which is amazing compared to<br />
regular tracked machines. Normal tracked systems can be a<br />
Looking for a<br />
tractor?<br />
Search for ‘tractor’ on<br />
Trade<strong>Farm</strong><strong>Machinery</strong>.com.au<br />
or type the TA or DIY code<br />
shown here into the<br />
keyword search field<br />
$39,600<br />
TA1077814<br />
CLAAS 574 ANTARES. 105hp with 6T side tipper<br />
cane bin, 1,300 hrs use. • QLD 07 3073 8079<br />
$POA<br />
TA1077724<br />
CLAAS 430 ARION. 4cyl diesel,<br />
191 usage hours. • VIC 03 8547 8737<br />
$149,000<br />
TA1059155<br />
CLAAS ARION 650 C-MATIC. 50kms, suspension<br />
all round, 4 remotes. • VIC 03 8373 7132<br />
54 Trade<strong>Farm</strong><strong>Machinery</strong>.com.au THE TRACTOR YOU WANT IS NOW EASIER TO FIND
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