TechTour: Claas aims for the best of both tracks and wheels

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Claas unveiled a fierce-looking hybrid machine that it describes as the first half-track tractor with full suspension at Agritechnica 2017 in Hanover, Germany.

“It’s combining the best of two worlds. We have the traction efficiency with the tracks on the rear, but we have the driveability and comfort of a wheeled tractor integrated,” explains Henning Ressmeyer of Claas in this video, kicking off season five in the TechTour series.

The track system on the silver medal-winning Axion 900 Terra Trac is based on the same technology used on Claas’ Lexion combines.

The “wheel base” or distance from centre of the rear to the centre of the front axle is slightly shorter than the wheeled version of the 900, placing more weight on the rear. Without an implement attached, about 65 percent of the weight is on the tracks, says Ressmeyer.

While the model on display in Germany is still a prototype, he says we should start seeing the Terra Trac in the field in the next two years.

Ressmeyer joined Kelvin Heppner to discuss the new half-track machine, its design and the company’s plans for bringing it to market:

RealAgriculture’s coverage of Agritechnica 2017 is brought to you by Dow AgroSciences.

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