Fastrack 4220

[saly123]

Some good views here. Thanks all. I’ll have to try one. Hard to get a demo if not buying new. Just looking at my options.

 

[deere150]

Now we've not tried ours on the plough, mainly as I have a good contractor for that.. but would think that is the one job it will struggle more with. I'm sure it will be fine in good conditions but 220hp fastrac has to compete with a 724 and it just won't with little back wheels when the going gets steep and wet.. The 4220 has to be able to deal with 5 furrows in these conditions and 6 furrows in good going. Even with plenty of ballast, when the tractor is trying to dig in on a steep climb, the rear wheels are doing nearly all the work with the weight of 5 furrows loaded with ground. The best way to achieve grip is a long contact area from tyre to ground and that is what the fastrac does not have.. The salesmen keep suggesting dropping tyre pressures, but that is only possible if the endrigs are fairly level.. start dropping pressures with a long beam 5 furrow hanging swung out the side and on any real sidehill you will have the tyre folded in half and the rim running on the ground.. not nice. i'm convinced that taller wheels will always offer more grip but if other people have found otherwise then i'm happy to be proven wrong as the 4220 is a great machine!

I'm not wanting to start an argument, once you get slip control thing set up, I'd be willing to bet fastrac would keep up with a 724. I thought mine was crap in the wet until I got it set up, ploughed in atrocious conditions last spring

 

[Weare Cham]

I'm not wanting to start an argument, once you get slip control thing set up, I'd be willing to bet fastrac would keep up with a 724. I thought mine was crap in the wet until I got it set up, ploughed in atrocious conditions last spring

 

[HarryB97]

If the fastrac was on land as well the Fendt would run rings round it I would imagine when it's that soft on top!

 

[Chae1]

Fastrac does have different weight contribution compared to a standard tractor and the 4220 with its suspension should contribute more weight to front
Local farm near me bought a 4220 and one of the reasons for buying 1 was how well it managed a 6f Kuhn plough in not so ideal conditions

Don't know how it works but suspension puts pressure down on wheels to aid grip,

 

[snarling bee]

The Fendt is doing well to pull 6 furrows on land in those conditions. A point to note is that there is a lot less weight on the front of the Fastrac than on the Fendt.
A friend had a demo of a 4220 and 720. The Fendt needed 2 tonne on the front to pick up his plough, and then could only go 5mph down his farm track. The Fastrac needed no front weight and did 20mph down the same track. He bought the JCB.

 

[jonnyjon]

The Fendt is doing well to pull 6 furrows on land in those conditions. A point to note is that there is a lot less weight on the front of the Fastrac than on the Fendt.
A friend had a demo of a 4220 and 720. The Fendt needed 2 tonne on the front to pick up his plough, and then could only go 5mph down his farm track. The Fastrac needed no front weight and did 20mph down the same track. He bought the JCB.

Having experience of both tractors, the story of the Fendt needing 2 tonne and Jcb needing none etc is utter bull poo

 

[Pint2]

The video above is pointless really.
A tractor in the furrow will always tramp on when the conditions get sticky.
Better comparison if both tractors had been pulling the same ploughs ie on land .
But i have to say both are capable machines. JCB though is a nice place to sit with the suspension and has a good view behind you.

 

[Fendtbro]

I agree the 42 is doing ok in that video, but that is flat likely well drained ground with a skittery top.. take that wet conditions, add in a steep slope, and then add a wet hole or two and then the back wheels will be overloaded with weight and just not able to spread out the ground pressure as well as a conventional tractor. In these situations you are literally feathering the weight of the plough on the lift, just to keep moving.. I know many people don't have to work in these tough conditions but plenty do round here. Don't get me wrong, I want the british machine to win and it does hands down in every other job we've tried it at.. Full suspension is the only way forward for proper comfort and fendt is bound to develop a system to keep up at some point..

 

[bobk]

My only gripe with the fastrac isn't power , it's traction ... bit light on the arse .

 

[charlie850]

I agree the 42 is doing ok in that video, but that is flat likely well drained ground with a skittery top.. take that wet conditions, add in a steep slope, and then add a wet hole or two and then the back wheels will be overloaded with weight and just not able to spread out the ground pressure as well as a conventional tractor. In these situations you are literally feathering the weight of the plough on the lift, just to keep moving.. I know many people don't have to work in these tough conditions but plenty do round here. Don't get me wrong, I want the british machine to win and it does hands down in every other job we've tried it at.. Full suspension is the only way forward for proper comfort and fendt is bound to develop a system to keep up at some point..

Manage to plough with the 4220 near me in maize ground that has been racked in places and some of it steep
When it comes down to it if you want the fastrac to work it will but tyre pressure are important from field to road

 

[Andrew]

Fastracs will sit down and pull as well as anything else. You just need to spend more time setting them up, getting the weight in the right place and making sure tyre pressures are correct. They are a lot less forgiving of lazy operators than normal tractors.

 

[snarling bee]

Having experience of both tractors, the story of the Fendt needing 2 tonne and Jcb needing none etc is utter bull poo

So what is your experience then?

 

[Fendtbro]

Fastracs will sit down and pull as well as anything else. You just need to spend more time setting them up, getting the weight in the right place and making sure tyre pressures are correct. They are a lot less forgiving of lazy operators than normal tractors.

As I said, our endrigs are very steep..Some places you can barely open the baler or it will tip. Much less than 30 psi and the tyres will be off the rims. All this talk of dropping pressure is fine in normal conditions but no good to us. The contractors 650x 42's are on their limit sometimes and they have a lot more capacity.

 

[colhonk]

If you look, G S had a video out yesterday with the JCB on the new plough on land,pulled it with ease.

 

[jonnyjon]

So what is your experience then?

Back in the day when I used to plough I had a 6f auto reset HD plough on my 718 with 1500 kg on the front, even totally plugging the rear of the plough, the tractor could lift it without lifting the front wheels off the ground. Considering it would be unlikely to have anything heavier on a 175 HP tractor, I fail to understand why a 2 tonne weight would be required as anything heavier should be on a bigger tractor. As for comfort, 55k on a poor road was no problem and when weighted up like this, it was every bit as stable and comfortable as my fastrac was when carrying heavy mounted kit as the tractor is nicely balanced. I'm not trying to knock the 4220, a fine tractor in many ways but why did they mount the rear mudguards 2 foot above the rear wheels making it look bloody stupid, if they had fitted it with the correct size tyres they would have matched the mudguards perfectly

 

[snarling bee]

So you had 1500 kg on the front!
Perhaps only 1t and 2t front weights were available at the time of my mates demo and 1t was not enough?!

I'm not trying to knock or boost either tractor, but I think most standard tractors have only 35-40% of their weight over the front axle before ballasting, whereas the an equal wheeled tractor will have 50-60% over the front, be that an MBtrac, Fastrac or quadtrack.

 

[Fendtbro]

Back in the day when I used to plough I had a 6f auto reset HD plough on my 718 with 1500 kg on the front, even totally plugging the rear of the plough, the tractor could lift it without lifting the front wheels off the ground. Considering it would be unlikely to have anything heavier on a 175 HP tractor, I fail to understand why a 2 tonne weight would be required as anything heavier should be on a bigger tractor. As for comfort, 55k on a poor road was no problem and when weighted up like this, it was every bit as stable and comfortable as my fastrac was when carrying heavy mounted kit as the tractor is nicely balanced. I'm not trying to knock the 4220, a fine tractor in many ways but why did they mount the rear mudguards 2 foot above the rear wheels making it look bloody stupid, if they had fitted it with the correct size tyres they would have matched the mudguards perfectly

This makes sense, the 42 should be available with two ratio's of rear final drive from the factory. The option to keep it like it is, for people like us who need all the steering lock possible. And the option of 650/65/38's with a reduced steering lock for the guys that need it. The suspension looks to have the travel to level the tractor. Then jcb should have the market sewn up

 

[jonnyjon]

So you had 1500 kg on the front!
Perhaps only 1t and 2t front weights were available at the time of my mates demo and 1t was not enough?!

I'm not trying to knock or boost either tractor, but I think most standard tractors have only 35-40% of their weight over the front axle before ballasting, whereas the an equal wheeled tractor will have 50-60% over the front, be that an MBtrac, Fastrac or quadtrack.

Yes they carry the majority of their weight on the front wheels which means, like for like, a fastrac will need less ballast on the front. That can be an advantage or a disadvantage

 

[jonnyjon]

This makes sense, the 42 should be available with two ratio's of rear final drive from the factory. The option to keep it like it is, for people like us who need all the steering lock possible. And the option of 650/65/38's with a reduced steering lock for the guys that need it. The suspension looks to have the travel to level the tractor. Then jcb should have the market sewn up

With a bit of thought, they could have fitted 38" wheels on the back without comprising lock, have a look at a Claas. If they had done that they would have a real good tractor to sell. Sadly Jcb just don't seem to be able to build anything without making at least a couple of glaring design flaws. So annoying