JCB high productivity arable machines at the Cereals event

JCB will showcase the new 335hp Fastrac 6300 at Cereals this month – with the tractor starring alongside the company’s most productive materials handling machines for efficient grain, bulk fertiliser and bale handling.

The Cereals event moves to the Cotswolds this year, being held at Diddly Squat Farm, Chaddlington, Oxfordshire on June 10/11, with farmers from throughout the country visiting to learn about the latest varieties, soil management and machinery for growing top-quality grain and oilseed crops.

JCB’s familiar Fastrac concept is well-known for its unique combination of power, traction, speed and four-wheel steer agility, and for its signature axle suspension front and rear.

This set up not only provides the best operator comfort over long working days but also ensures sure-footed field work and road travel – legally at up to 66kph thanks to the suspended axles and a braking system to commercial vehicle standards featuring large outboard disc brakes.

The new Fastrac 6300, however, delivers more power in a relatively compact and manoeuvrable package ideally suited to arable farming cultivation, drilling and transport operations.

Features include a new engine and stepless transmission combination performance-matched to deliver smooth speed transitions and efficient power and torque delivery.

Up in the cab, the highly-configurable touch-screen iCON control centre offers ISOBUS implement operation and comprehensive factory-installed precision farming features.

These include a multi-mode guidance system with a choice of automated headland turn patterns and a unique twin satellite receiver installation that provides reliable accuracy, especially over rolling terrain.

In addition to the example available for close inspection on JCB’s exhibit, a second Fastrac 6300 will take an Amazone trailed sprayer around the Sprays & Sprayers arena, while a pair of 235hp Fastrac 4220s will perform with Amazone and Landquip de-mount sprayers, illustrating the usefulness of the Fastrac’s deck area, which complements the front and rear linkage as a third mounting point.

Materials handling power
JCB is renowned for the depth and breadth of its materials handing range, which encompasses loading shovels, telescopic wheeled loaders and telehandlers, with innovative features such as built-in weighing and automated functions that make these machines more productive, more useful and easier to use. 

For high-lift operations – particularly stacking and retrieving bales – the new JCB Loadall 542-100 combines 4.2 tonne lift capacity and 9.8m lift height with the unique DualTech VT transmission, a JCB-engineered design that combines the best attributes of hydrostatic and powershift drive.

Despite its greater lift capacity and lift height, and the field-to-yard speed advantage of the optional 50kph DualTech VT version, the newcomer is no bigger than the existing 536-95, so it has the same agile manoeuvrability needed for every-day work in and around farm buildings.

JCB’s Loadall 560-80 is the bulk loading and re-handling specialist in the range, now available to AGRI Pro specification with a 40kph version of the highly-efficient DualTech VT part hydrostatic, part powershift transmission and an uprated driveline partnering the 173hp DieselMAX engine.

Heavy-duty axles, 500mm-wide tyres and hydraulic power braking to both axles are part of the upgrade package, while a 14% increase in flow to 160-litre/min provides even faster cycle times.

For the ultimate in bulk handling for fertiliser and grain stores, JCB’s range of loading shovels – represented by the 437 Agri at the Cereals Event – is unmatched in the number of models and choice of specifications to suit mainly hard-surface and indoor operation or outdoor work on silage clamps and muck heaps.

The JCB 437 Agri is a 15-tonne, 4.7 tonne payload machine best suited to store work, with 195hp, a five-speed powershift transmission and heaps of hydraulic power for fast loading and re-handling cycles, whether materials are in-bound or being out-loaded from storage.