United Kingdom, Sentry Farms

Ken McTaggart, Sentry Farms, East Bergholt, Ipswich, Suffolk

XERION 3300

When it came to buying a new high horsepower tractor for primary cultivations, two of the main reasons behind Ken McTaggart choosing a 340hp XERION 3300 was its superb traction plus the service and support he knew he would receive from Manns and CLAAS.

Following a reshuffle of the farming operation, which had previously used contractors for heavy cultivations, the XERION is mainly used for subsoiling, ploughing using an 8-furrow plough or pulling a 5.0m SL cultivator on the 1400 hectare farm, that is split between six blocks spread over a 25 mile radius.

“One of our other farms in Suffolk has operated a XERION for a number of years, and it has been here, so we knew what it could do,” explains Ken. “Due to XERIONs four equal sized wheels, when it is correctly balanced the traction and the ability to put down a lot of power is amazing, which is important on heavy soils. Also due to the amount of roadwork, the 50kph transmission was a big factor, plus it is not too wide and very manoeuvrable.”

“Whilst we did consider other conventional tractors, the big decider was the support and back-up from Manns. We run a LEXION combine and their support has always been very impressive, which is important to us especially if we are relying on a single prime mover.”

The XERION has also just been fitted with a GPS PILOT steering system using BASELINE HD, which it is hoped will help to further improve field efficiency, especially during the four-week peak cultivation period when the XERION is running 24 hours a day.

“The drivers have got on very well with the XERION and because most of them have also driven the combine they were used to CEBIS. The Cruise Control feature also makes it easy to be fuel efficient and let the tractor sort out what is the most efficient way of operating for different operations.”