25 Years of John Deere Automated Guidance: A Precision Ag Timeline
This year marks the 25th anniversary of John Deere moving into automated guidance.
The new record took place on a farm near the town of Slatina in Romania, with the successful double act being a 691hp John Deere 9RX 640 tracked machine mated to a 18.4m Bednar Swifterdisc XE 18400 Mega disc cultivator. The combination dealt to stubbles of wheat, canola, peas and beans in six paddocks – the largest being 161ha.
This beat the previous record, set as far back as 2007, by 125.4ha. That pairing was a Challenger MT875B and 14m Gregoire Besson cultivator.
Working at a depth of 7.0cm, the cultivator – equipped with 560mm diameter discs (5mm) and a 630mm diameter rear V-Ring packer with scrapers – achieved an average output of 32.6ha/ hour. Meanwhile, the 9RX powerhouse hit maximum speeds of 21km/h and covered a total distance of 450.7km.
The tractor averaged just over 3.0 litres of diesel per hectare with a total fuel use of 2355.61 litres.
Achieved by a team of eight people, the tractor was only stopped for just 24 minutes during the 24-hour period – to change drivers, refill the 1490 litre diesel tank and to deal with a small hydraulic leak on the cultivator.
The Czech manufacturer introduced the Swifterdisc XE Mega series in 2021 and currently offers three models from 14.4m to 18.4m working widths. The XE 18400 weighs in at 22.3 tonnes and folds to a transport width of only 3 metres wide by 4 metres high.
The RX 640 stats are no less impressive, tipping the scales at around 25.5 tonnes and boasting a 13.6 litre JD twin turbo engine mated to an 18-stage powershift transmission.
