Agco has come away from the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) awards show with a smile on their face picking up three gongs for innovative technologies.
The AE50 award selections are based on innovation, engineering advancement and impact on the market and this year the company’s Challenger 1000 Series tractors, the OptiRide Active Cab suspension system and the MTS Maxx Ride Suspension, fitted on Challenger MT700E and MT800E Series tractors got the chocolates.
Agco’s Karsten Pedersen said the company makes “significant capital investments in technology to ensure we bring versatile and state-of-the-art products to market.
“These awards demonstrate AGCO is delivering on our commitment to innovative design, technology and the ‘no compromise’ approach we follow.”
The AE50 award program emphasises the role of new products and systems in bringing advanced technology to the marketplace.
Agco said the Challenger 1000 Series tractors deliver lower cost of ownership and improved productivity per acre in draft and row-crop application with the power of a small-frame, articulated four-wheel-drive tractor and the flexibility and speed of a lighter-weight, fixed-frame row crop machine.
Agco’s new OptiRide Active Cab suspension uses truck cab suspension system components to give farmers a more comfortable ride.
The cab suspension is available in Massey Ferguson 6700S Series tractors and Agco says it provides ride comfort on the road and in the field up to 20 per cent better than the mechanical suspension in Massey Ferguson 7700 Series tractors.
OptiRide has two sensors on diagonally opposite corners of the cab that automatically register the degree of cab tilt and raise the hydraulics to restore equilibrium, minimising fore-and-aft movements when starting and stopping.
The suspension system also uses a hydraulic damper and accumulator on each corner of the cab, while an electronically controlled proportional electro-magnetic valves take into account the travel speed, acceleration and braking, as well as the chassis size of the tractor, ensuring the suspension system compensates for different operating conditions,
The MTS Maxx Ride feature fitted to MT700E and 800E Challenger tractors adds ultra-high capacity shock absorbers to the Mobil-trac system for what Agco says is the softest track suspension on the market for a two-track tractor.
Due to its shock absorbers, the MTS Maxx Ride dampens excessive pitching motion, allowing the operator to feel more comfortable when operating the tractor in the field and to have more control of the machine on the road.