Challenger pulled out of Europe

[Ducati899]

10000 litre tank!!! makes my 1900 one feel incredibly small all of a sudden

 

[Clive]

@Clive stated that this was a very poor photoshop can't remember the exact words.

still looks that way to me, picture looks wrong

where is the USA press release re this launch ?

 

[Clive]

He may have, but if so he was wrong.
This is the new mt 743, demos won't be till next spring though.
They seem to have ironed out the negatives, and very much modernised the interior which seems far more user friendly.
As long as the reliability is there these are gonna be big going forward imo.

any links or press release or just rumour ?

fair enough if I'm wrong about the picture but surely there should be some "official" news re this machine ?

 

[Richard Smyth]

any links or press release or just rumour ?

fair enough if I'm wrong about the picture but surely there should be some "official" news re this machine ?

http://www.challenger-ag.us/content...17S003CR.PDF/_jcr_content/renditions/original

 

[Richard Smyth]

I have a tank of the same size and appreciate that it takes some pulling up hills, even half full in soft going, of which I have many. I manage with 180 hp on both mine though.

At what speed. Can't afford to slow down with the area that needs to be covered here

 

[Cowabunga]

At the bottom of the page here, is an announcement that something is 'coming soon'

http://www.challenger-ag.us/products/tractors.html

 

[Cowabunga]

At what speed. Can't afford to slow down with the area that needs to be covered here

Depends on the hill but when traction is at its limit, sometimes down to 10kph, but variable.
Since I have two, it's not so critical and I certainly have to be careful not to tip them over.
Since I often have two working, you could say I have 360hp working, but I only spread around 3 to 4 million litres every year.

 

[binbusy]

any links or press release or just rumour ?

fair enough if I'm wrong about the picture but surely there should be some "official" news re this machine ?

Definitely not a rumour Clive.

 

[MrOl]

http://www.challenger-ag.us/content...17S003CR.PDF/_jcr_content/renditions/original

Someone's gone to a hell of a lot of effort @Clive if this is a fake! Agree it just looks wrong but obviously not to the Agco design bods (or perhaps the accountants sitting next to them!)

 

[stevedave]

I have a tank of the same size and appreciate that it takes some pulling up hills, even half full in soft going, of which I have many. I manage with 180 hp on both mine though.

Do you spread a lot of slurry at 25 km/h. That sort of set up looks efficient to me. How long would you take cover almost 800 acres with slurry and how many tractors and tankers would it take to do that?

 

[Drillman]

Who cares if there ugly. I'm with @Clive on the view that in the UK at least these monsters are a dying breed. There just too big.

i mean who the hell wants a used one of them in 10-15 years time? Depreciation on them will be horrendous

 

[Clive]

http://www.challenger-ag.us/content...17S003CR.PDF/_jcr_content/renditions/original

thats more like it


still outdated dinosaurs though !

 

[Deutzdx3]

There were some that had to be shipped back to the states as when they landed they didn't meet emissions and apparently couldn't be sorted here. I know it cost a local dealer(agco) a lot in loaning a farmer in East Sussex one until it was sorted. Not good for its challenger reputation.
They serve a purpose until its wet. Local farmer has 3, a few years ago they couldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding. They reverted back to their old jd's and plough, drill combinations. Fast when conditions are good.

 

[Richard Smyth]

thats more like it


still outdated dinosaurs though !

I am unlikely to have one as I need versatility that only wheels can bring.

They are coming though and I'm glad jd are not getting the market all to themselves.

 

[Farmer Roy]

I am unlikely to have one as I need versatility that only wheels can bring.

They are coming though and I'm glad jd are not getting the market all to themselves.

They are the obvious choice for a CTF system on 3m centres . . .
If I was only working on my own farm they would be my tractor of choice.
However, with contracting work the tracks don't stand up to road transport as good as tyres

 

[Richard Smyth]

They are the obvious choice for a CTF system on 3m centres . . .
If I was only working on my own farm they would be my tractor of choice.
However, with contracting work the tracks don't stand up to road transport as good as tyres

Agreed. Why though does everyone want 3 meter track width. No one can tell me why it's better. CTF is still ctf at 2.25 meter track or 2.5 in my opinion. Don't know anyone in this area on ctf.

We travel 40 km to outlying land and also do a lot of contract spraying.

Tracks are just too rough and too messy when turning around in light sand.

I only run 1 tractor at the moment so it has too do everything. I also think a properly ballasted and tyred tractor gets very close to tracks

 

[Farmer Roy]

Agreed. Why though does everyone want 3 meter track width. No one can tell me why it's better. CTF is still ctf at 2.25 meter track or 2.5 in my opinion. Don't know anyone in this area on ctf.

We travel 40 km to outlying land and also do a lot of contract spraying.

Tracks are just too rough and too messy when turning around in light sand.

I only run 1 tractor at the moment so it has too do everything. I also think a properly ballasted and tyred tractor gets very close to tracks

Currently on 2 m
Grow dryland cotton & other summer row crops on m rows, so that's why 2m, 3m fits in with that & headers ( contractors )

 

[Richard Smyth]

Currently on 2 m
Grow dryland cotton & other summer row crops on m rows, so that's why 2m, 3m fits in with that & headers ( contractors )

Makes sense. Wonder why 3 meter has beeen adopted in pure broadacre areas such as the Wimmera and areas of WA.

 

[richj]

http://agrimachinery.trade/challeng...-to-be-sold-in-future-under-the-fendt-banner/

 

[Cowabunga]

http://agrimachinery.trade/challeng...-to-be-sold-in-future-under-the-fendt-banner/

This quote from that page is interesting and alarming

“The broad product portfolio is designed to offer our customers and dealers a virtually complete and complementary range of machines, for nowadays, professional agricultural enterprises and contractors demand a wide range of high-quality, high-performance products. This is because machines today are highly complex, and will be able to communicate even more closely with each another in future through networking.”

That sounds awfully like tractors and machines having brand-specific communication systems and protocols instead of the universal ISOBus system.
This trend should be resisted at all costs. Having implements that will only communicate most effectively with a single brand of tractor is an attempt at manipulating the market in my opinion. It is certainly not in the customer or user's best interest to be tied into one brand.

Don't let any of the big companies get away with this. If they dare try, vote with your chequebooks against it.

What they will try to do is get a baler, for instance, to bale, stop tractor motion, wrap and eject and restart without driver intervention. The big brands may possibly try and sell such integrated features, working only exclusively with their brand of tractor and implement, as a massive advantage, but they are only really doing it to tie people in to the brand. Don't forget that the driver has a brain that should at least do some work while driving a tractor.