outside front axle air ride what am i missing? JD, Case NH have similar stuff
The IFS is hydraulic. 3pt air ride cab is exclusive to them as well.
Neither Deere or NH offer dual circuit air brakes with ABS and stability control.
Deeres terminal is fairly close as far as offering a very integrated system. CNH is still lacking in that area but I will say Fendts Varioguide is fairly plain jane compared to Trimble on the CNH stuff and Greenstar on the Deeres.
The Variotronic system is very advanced as well. Others do offer headland management systems but not to the same extent. The button I push on the joystick is the Variotronic system which automagically performs every function you would normally perform manually.
More than anything though is Fendts customizability to the end user. Every button on the stick is simply that, you program what you want it to do. Each hydraulic remote can be set to be operated from either of the two hydraulic controls on the stick, the two on the crossgate lever or any of the 4 fingertip remotes. When you hook up an ISOBUS implement you can select what each button on the joystick controls on that implement. The ISOBUS joystick is something I personally really like and really miss when in other brands. Once programmed you really never need to touch anything else but the stick.
The stick controls everything with the transmission as well. The trigger is what keeps most newbies from moving a Fendt. You have to push the trigger and move the stick forward or backward simultaneously to move the tractor. Click the trigger and tap the stick to the left and the tractor slows down and changes direction. You can also set preset speeds that it automatically goes to when you shuttle between directions. Alternatively you can use the left hand shuttle. Tap the joystick to the right and it activates cruise control. If you have C1 or C2 selected it will resume to that speed. If you have neither selectes it will stay at the current speed. The min/max buttons are also on the stick for your two preset rpm speeds for PTO implements. Otherwise you just let the TMS adjust the rpms as needed. As you can see in the video I didnt need any power so it ran just over 1000rpm. The slider on the side of the joystick by your thumb is the acceleration aggressiveness. Levels 1-IV adjust how quickly the transmission accellerates and changes direction.
The controls on the rest of the armrest are simple and color coded. Yellow is transmission. There is the slider for the RPMs and the other slider is for the pedal. It sets the maximum speed in pedal mode. This is very handy as it quickly rescales the pedal position. For example you have it set to 34mph for driving on the road, then you are in the field side loading with the chopper, you can pull it back to 10mph and have a lot more precise control of your speed with less jerking. The range buttons are over there as well. A range change to low is only needed when you will be operating under load at less than 18mph for an extended period of time. The Vario trans goes from 0-60kph (50kph in NA) steplessly with no shifts needed. The reason for the range change is to allow the transmission to operate with more mechanical power.
The way the Vario works is simple. The engine power goes directly through a planetary gearset and back to the PTO. The engine itself turns the planet gears. There is a "collector" shaft surrounds the engine input shaft and is connected to both the sun gear and another gear that drives the range gear. The ring gear of this planetary is not fixed either and drives a variable displacement pump that can swing 45* one way and 30* the other way. This pump feeds a pair of hydraulic motors with a swing angle of 45* as well. These motors are directly connected to the range gear as well. The range gear simply drives the selected range gear and then the final drive.
The planetary is quite small. The ring gear is maybe 10" and transmits over 400hp just fine. The entire transmission itself is only about the size of a semi truck transmission. The reason the gears can be so small is because they are never subject to a shock load. They are always in constant contact as well.
To start out the engine will be just turning the planet carrier with the pump and motors at 0* holding the tractor in place at 0mph. To start off going forward the pump swings to send fluid to the hydraulic motors, they also swing to start turning the range gear. As speed increases they swing further. Once at full swing the motors start to swing back but the pump stays at 45*. As they swing back they cant accept all the flow from the pump which causes the pump to slow down and thus acts as a braking effect on the ring gear. The motors continue back to 0*. At 0* the ring gear is locked and the engine is directly driving the rear end through pure mechanical power. To get reverse they simply swing the pump the opposite direction.
As you can see at low speeds the drive is mostly hydraulic. The faster you go the more mechanical it becomes. This is why they added the ranges. When you operate at 10mph in low range versus high range you get much less hydraulic drive power and more mechanical power. This is more effecient and reduces wear on the transmission.
Ill admit the other OEMs have caught up with fendt on some things on paper. Their features do not always perform as well but they do at least offer them. However if you look at the past, Fendt is often pioneering new things while others catch up a few years down the road.
Is the spinner knob a factory option?
yes the comfort wheel with suicide knob is factory.
In all honesty, I think jd, case, and new holland are behind the eight ball. Massey and fendt have a lot of good ideas, and seem to be pretty open minded to suggestions from end users.
Massey is technologically advanced to an extent. They basically bought a lot of good ideas then tried to build a north american tractor with those ideas. Many people dont like the Fendt because its designed around European farming. The 900 seriws still cannot be set to 60" centers and probably never will. Massey needs some more time to refine their product though.
JD is keeping up as much as they always do. They are market spectators. They wait to see whag works for others then implement it into their own machines.
CNH is starting to catch up but I do think they are the furthest behind.
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