WESTERN PRODUCER — With an eye catching announcement on February 28, John Deere takes the lead in the tractor horsepower race. It is introducing the most powerful four-wheel drive production ag tractor ever built, surpassing Case IH’s 715 horsepower Steiger, which only debuted this past fall and briefly held that record.
With three new 9RX models, the 9RX 710, 9RX 770 and 9RX 830 that produce rated horsepower comparable to their model numbers, Deere’s expanded 9RX Series stuffs an incredible number of ponies under the hoods of these tractors. They get that muscle from a new 18-litre diesel that relies on EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) as the exhaust after treatment, without SCR and eliminating the need for DEF. With that system, Deere says the JD18 engine still meets Final Tier 4 and Sage V emissions standards.
“It’s a Deere engine, internally developed over the past couple of years,” said Aaron Wetzel, vice president of production systems for production and precision ag at John Deere. “And this is our first application of that engine into our tractor portfolio.”
Topping out at 830 horsepower, the new models also offer 168 g.p.m. ( 638 l/mn) of hydraulic capacity, and they’re capable of being ballasted up to 84,000 pounds (38,101 kg) to create traction.
“We have track-only versions for this upper horsepower market,” said Wetzel. “We’ve got to get that horsepower to the ground, but also have to make sure we have the lowest level of compaction possible. We see the track solutions are enabling customers to provide power, but also improve the overall footprint of the vehicle. We believe the track solution is the best for our customers.”
The new tractors represent more than tweaks to the existing 9RX platforms, Deere says they are a “from-the-ground-up redesign”, which isn’t surprising given the overall engineering required to handle that boost in available horsepower.
“We’ve had this product in development for quite some time,” said Wetzel. “We’ve put on numerous hours working with customers all over the world in varying environments. In the development process we try to put our machines through as many different conditions as possible to ensure when this product shows up on the farm of one of our customers it’s ready to work and it’s ready to perform. So we invested heavily in doing the testing for what it needs to achieve in many customer segments.”
While there have been numerous “spy” pictures on social media of the big tractors out on field trials over the past couple of years, they made their official public debut at the Commodity Classic farm show in the U.S. in February. And there turns out to be much more to talk about on these tractors than just pure muscle growth.
These model year 2025 tractors offer an autonomy-ready option package that will allow them to run in a fully autonomous mode once Deere makes that digital solution commercially available, which the brand says won’t be far off. The autonomy-ready package can now be ordered on all other 2025 9 and 8 Series tractors as a factory option.
“I would say the most exciting thing about this newest tractor we’re bringing to the market is the integration of our technology suite,” he added. “(They) enable a seamless flow of data from the job the tractor is doing in the field to our John Deere Operations Center in real time.
“Having these tractors be easily able to upgrade into full autonomy is one of those areas we’re focusing on.”
That package will include rear implement ethernet, new visibility features, a backup alarm, a 330 amp alternator, brake controller, and all necessary connections and harnesses. The only hardware that will need to be bolted on to run in autonomous mode will be the perception system, which includes cameras and vision processing units.
That goes along with an enhanced technology package that includes the G5 CommandCenter display and StarFire 7500 receiver. An optional G5 advanced technology package with SF-RTK improve precision capabilities.
Until the tractors are able to run on their own, operators will get to enjoy the new upgrades to the CommandView 4 Plus cabs. Those include 15 per cent more floor space, more visibility out the right-hand windows and more storage. The cabs ride on a new suspension and an isolated subframe.
They will be available for order in mid March.
“I think primarily for western Canadian growers, this is a product that’s going to really fit their needs in pulling those large seeding trains in the spring,” Wetzel said. “Being able to pull a 90 or 100-foot tool through the field is going to need a lot more horsepower than what we’ve offered in the past. Now we’re able to do that.”
Combines
Deere didn’t limit its announcements at the Commodity Classic to just tractors, it had plenty more news, including on the combine front. It announced four new S7 Series models, offering from 333 to 543 horsepower. They will use either the JD14 13.6-litre or JD9 9-litre engines.
“The improvements we’ve made to these engines, from the new sensor design to the improved fuel dosing and EGR systems, will help bring emissions down to Final Tier 4 standards and reduce fuel consumption,” said Bergen Nelson, Deere’s go-to-market manager for harvesters, in a press release.
The S7 Series also get a new high-efficiency residue management system. It uses straight knives, and mechanical tailboard drive, and there is the option of equipping them with the Premium PowerCast tailboard. The S7s can now more consistently size and spread fine or extra-fine residue out to a 45-foot width and eat up 15 fewer horsepower than previous models doing it.
They also get a new grain loss monitoring system as part of the base equipment. It detects grain loss at the rear of the cleaning shoe and the separator and is up to three times more accurate than the previous system, according to Deere. The loss rate is shown on the in-cab display, so operators can quickly make any necessary adjustments.
Just like the big tractors, the S7s get an improved operator’s station with better visibility. And getting into it is now easier with a redesigned cab ladder.
“We increased its angle to make entry and exit easier and more comfortable, while also keeping the combine within transport width limits,” said Nelson.
The new S7s and X9 combines will get three automation feature options.
Ground speed automation is a dynamic ground speed control feature that helps maintain a consistent feed rate by automatically adjusting the combine’s ground speed based on operator inputs and operator-defined limits on variables such as grain loss, engine power and rotor pressure.
Harvest settings automation helps operators automatically set concave clearance and chaffer clearance, all based on the combine model, crop type and geolocation. After the operator selects limits for grain loss, foreign material and broken grain, the system automatically adjusts the five initial settings to stay within the selected limits.
Finally, Predictive Ground Speed Automation controls the combine’s ground speed based on crop height and biomass measurements taken pre-harvest from satellite scans and from on-the-go measurements made by cab-mounted cameras.
“Taking the X9 combine we launched a couple of years ago and bringing those capabilities throughout the portfolio really increases productivity,” said Wetzel. “We have a suite of automation capabilities that will increase the productivity of our harvesting solutions by nearly 20 per cent.”
Air Carts
Deere will offer new air carts to put behind the new tractors as well. It introduced the new C Series line at the Commodity Classic show.
Six new cart models will be available for the 2025 model year ranging from 350 to 850 bushel capacities. There are dual tank configurations on the two smallest models, triple tank on the 500 bushel model, and quad tanks on the three largest models. All but the largest model will be available in both tow between and tow behind configurations.
With carts as small as 350 bushel capacity, Deere said it recognizes there is a demand for newer, more efficient carts from smaller producers.
“When developing these solutions, we recognized there are farmers of all sizes, each with different priorities,” said Anthony Styczinski, John Deere go-to-market manager for planters and seeders. “Whether you need speed, accuracy, cost efficiency, ease of use or all of the above, the C-Series can help you get there.”
The C Series will use the AccuRate stainless steel meters to reduce corrosion. The meter bank contains up to eight individually controlled meters per cart. And the new EZCal calibration system allows for “push-button” calibration.
“The more often you calibrate your equipment, the more accurate it will be,” said Styczinski. “That’s the great thing about the ActiveCal system, you can calibrate throughout the day from the cab so that as your conditions change, so will your MDV, and you don’t have to worry about over or under metering.”
The carts also get an automated blower system to keep up the correct r.p.m.
Sprayers
While Hagie sprayers aren’t all that common in Canada, Deere, which acquired that brand a few years ago, has announced it will begin offering the green-on-green See and Spray Premium system on that brand’s model year 2025 STS sprayers as well. It can target weeds in selected crops and spray only the weeds.
