On May 28th, we attended the 6th stop of the Vario Drive PRO tour in Fuentes de Ebro (Zaragoza), organized by Fendt throughout Spain. It was a very interesting day, and we will now share more details with you. This type of event is increasingly being promoted by manufacturers such as John Deere with its Roadshow, Valtra with its SmartTour, Deutz-Fahr with its Deutz-Fahrmer Festival in Albacete and many more manufacturers. All these events aim to bring together a "small" group of farmers (around 300) to have a more personalised contact with them and inform them about all the new products and technology.
The tour focuses on the tractor ranges using Vario Drive (Fendt 1000, 900 and 700 Gen7). In this respect, we were able to see the following tractors at work with Ovlac implements:
- Fendt 942 and 930 Vario.
- Fendt 728 and 726 Vario Gen7.
- Fendt 722 and 716 Gen 6.
- Fendt 312 Vario Gen4.
As for the Fendt Vario Drive PRO Tour, this is the schedule for its eight events:
- Murcia, 11 April.
- Seville, 25 April.
- Guadalajara, 14 May.
- Valladolid, 23 May.
- Zaragoza, 28 May.
- Girona, 30 May.
- Navarra, 4 June.
- Galicia, in autumn.
The event is divided into 5 stations where you can see the most important features that the German manufacturer wants to unveil:
- Vario Drive: the new version of the Vario gearbox, which could be called Vario 2.0.
- Operator environment Fendt ONE: the new operator environment for the entire tractor line-up.
- Full line: Fendt is a global manufacturer of agricultural machinery, not just tractors.
- Rear lift system: double-acting rear linkage for greater depth control without loss of sensitivity.
- Automatic turns, ISOBUS and automation: technological features that make the Fendt ONE unique with its three in-cab displays.
In terms of our impressions, these would be the highlights:
- We were very surprised by the automation of the headlands system, automatic turns and ISOBUS connections. These are not new topics, but we were able to see how easy it is to set up and how helpful it is to have everything displayed on the three screens in the Fendt ONE operator environment.
- The new Fendt 700 Gen7 series is arguably a superior tractor to many of its rivals, thanks mainly to its Vario Drive transmission and 7.5-litre Agco Power engines. It has already eaten up the 800 series right from the start.
- The new Fendt ErgoSteer joystick is an interesting idea for tractors that do a lot of loader work, for example.
- As far as the Full line is concerned, it is clear that Fendt is number one in tractors. However, when it comes to forage harvesters, it has serious rivals that in some cases may even surpass them.
- In the field, we saw that there were too few tractors for all the people. We were not able to try many of the tractors that were working.
- Finally, a nice lunch to talk with some friends we met and others we got to know... you always share experiences and learn interesting things.
Overall, the Vario Drive PRO tour provided a comprehensive insight into Fendt's latest technological advancements and product offerings. Despite some limitations in the number of tractors available for testing, the event effectively showcased the brand's strengths in automation, operator environment, and innovative features, reinforcing Fendt's leadership in the tractor market.