Fendt super cools 900s for efficiency
May 7, 2004 12:00 PM
A new design does more than make the 160- to 240-PTO horsepower Fendt 900 Series tractors look cooler. With 71 percent more grill screen area and 34 percent increased cooling capacity, the Fendt 918, 920, 924 and 926 also run cooler and more efficiently.
Maintenance is reduced, service enhanced and nighttime operation improved with the new grill design, tilt-up hood and new lighting system.
“The grill design marks a major change from common cooling systems in the industry,” explains Kevin Bien, Fendt marketing manager. “Competitive brands stack their coolers and require a tremendous amount of air flow to take heat away. This tends to increase core plugging in dirty conditions. Our increased inlet area eliminates stacking, reduces air flow and reduces debris buildup even in trashy, dirty conditions.”
The larger air inlet area allowed Fendt engineers to design a new Strata Aspiration system with reduced inlet hole size and hexagonal shapes instead of round. The smaller size reduces air speed through the cooling system, while the hexagonal shape reduces the incidence of crop residue particles spearing into and clogging holes.
“We found that trash is more likely to fall off the new screens than it did with the larger round holes or even small round holes,” explains Bien. “This means fewer stops to clean the screen and the core itself, plus a more reliable and consistent flow of air to cool the engine.”
Lighting, especially field lighting, has also been improved on the 900 Series tractors. Two cab-roof-mounted road lights have been replaced by two field lights, making a total of four field lights on the front of the cab roof. In addition, two field lights and the two road lights have been mounted on the grab handle columns. The grab handle light box also contains flashers that can be seen from the front and the rear. Two road lights are also incorporated in the new hood design for increased road safety.
Available in both row crop and reverse station models, the 900 Series boasts the award-winning Vario Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) — a (0.1 to 31 mph) step-less transmission — and the Fendt Tractor Management System (TMS) with Variotronic Headland Management System that replaces repetitive tractor operations with the push of a button.
With TMS activated, the operator has simultaneous electronic control of the transmission and the engine through either the multi-function joystick or the foot pedal. Once the tractor has been brought to optimum speed and rpm, the TMS evaluates the load and optimizes engine and transmission operation to most efficiently meet power and ground speed requirements.
With the push of a button on the programmable Vario terminal, an operator can record and later replay a sequence of up to 13 different tractor functions, including increasing or decreasing tractor speed or engine rpm and activating or deactivating PTO, hydraulic valves, differential lock, 3-point hitch and other tractor commands.
More than 16 such command sequences can be recorded, identified by name and replayed at will.
For more information on Fendt tractors, visit www.fendt.com.
