Monday, 22 April 2019 10:19

40,000th Jaguar stalks the paddocks

Written by  Mark Daniel
The new Claas Jaguar. The new Claas Jaguar.

Claas has made its 40,000th Jaguar forage harvester at the Harsewinkel, Germany plant and company headquarters.

And the renowned manufacturer won a Gold Innovation Award for a Jaguar Terra Trac at the recent Sima agribusiness show in Paris.

Since the first Jaguar series in 1973, Claas has become the world market leader in self-propelled forage harvesters. Innovation and efficiency have defined the Jaguar success story for 40 years. 

The rapid increase in maize cultivation beginning in the late 1960s called for greater harvesting outputs as mounted and trailed units hit their performance limits. Claas quickly recognised the potential of this segment and in June 1973 launched a high-performance self-propelled forage harvester, the Jaguar 60 SF. 

In 1976 there came the Jaguar 80 SF that could seperate the chopping cylinder and the intake roller, running a discharge blower and an automatic guidance system.

Another generation of four models was introduced in 1983, selling at least 7000 units, making the Jaguar 690, 680, 685 and 675 models the market leaders in Europe.

The Jaguar 800 arrived in 1993, with engine outputs from 228kW (310 hp) to 354kW (481 hp), fitted transversely behind the steering axle; this enabled simple, direct drive systems, an optimal supply of cooling air and access to the interior of the machine. 

Thanks to favourable drive axle loading it became possible for the first time to fit eight-row maize front attachments. 

A power milestone was passed in 2001, with 445kW (605 hp) under the hood of the Jaguar 900, and from the 2003 season, customers could opt for the high-speed Speed Star version with a top speed of 40km/h. 

The Jaguar 900 series, introduced in the 2008 season, came with intelligent engine control, continuous moisture measurement, the convenience of the CEBIS system and a new V-Max chopping cylinder. The Auto-Fill automatic filling system was awarded a gold medal at Agritechnica 2009. 

The Claas Jaguar won Machine of the Year at Agritechnica 2011, notably for its Dynamic Power control system which matches power output to demand. In the 2017 year Claas introduced a steplessly variable front attachment drive and an enhanced crop flow system, 

 In 2018, Claas introduced the Jaguar 960 Terra Trac, the first forage harvester with a factory-integrated crawler track system; this protects soil in all conditions and is narrow enough for road travel. 

More like this

New design Claas tractors set for Fieldays debut

Well known for its dominance in the harvesting arena, Claas has channelled its engineering excellence and a deep knowledge of the ag industry with the Fieldays release of the 2025 facelift Claas Arion 600C Evolution and Claas Night Edition Arion 660 tractors.

Featured

AgriSIMA 2026 Paris machinery show cancelled

With the current situation in the European farm machinery market being described as difficult at best, it’s perhaps no surprise that the upcoming AgriSIMA 2026 agricultural machinery exhibition, scheduled for February 2026 at Paris-Nord Villepinte, has been cancelled.

NZ tractor sales show signs of recovery – TAMA

As we move into the 2025/26 growing season, the Tractor and Machinery Association (TAMA) reports that the third quarter results for the year to date is showing that the stagnated tractor market of the last 18 months is showing signs of recovery.

National

Machinery & Products

New pick-up for Reiter R10 merger

Building on experience gained during 10 years of making mergers/ windrowers, Austrian company Reiter has announced the secondgeneration pick-up on…

Krone EasyCut B1250 fold

In 2024, German manufacturer Krone introduced the F400 Fold, a 4m wide disc front mower, featuring end modules that hinge…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Microplastics problem

OPINION: Microplastics are turning up just about everywhere in the global food supply, including in fish, cups of tea, and…

Job cuts

OPINION: At a time when dairy prices are at record highs, no one was expecting the world's second largest dairy…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter