Nobody actually drives a Fendt Favorit 716 Vario, they manage it. When and if operators are able to recognise this base requirement, they will quickly come to appreciate a premium-priced 118kW/160hp tractor that provides both supreme operator comfort and the performance characteristics to match. This is no tractor for the ‘boy’, though. Like all sophisticated kit, the 716 takes an experienced operator to get the best out of it, as Manfred Neunaber discovered.

Climb aboard the Favorit 716 Vario, and the operator is left in no doubt as to where this tractor is coming from: Straight out of ‘Techno’ city, with little in the way of dilution stops along the route. So, if the technology train ranks on a personal par with lumpy porridge and saggy stockings, stop reading now. For this is a tractor that makes no concessions to the nonsophisticate. No apologies. None at all. The Fendt 716 positively bristles with gadgets and high-tech components, as can be seen from the following spec:

  • Four-valve technology engine
  • Joystick-operated infinitely variable gearbox
  • Vario-terminal – to enter all adjustments and settings
  • Four double-acting spool valves with a variety of operating options
  • Double electro-hydraulic linkage control
  • Electro-hydraulic axle and pto management
  • Front axle and cab suspension.

Perhaps the most significant development is Fendt’s decision to bring the Vario’s infinitely variable gearbox down the power band and into the sub-160hp sector for the first time. Added to that, there’s the new and already highly regarded BF6M 2013C engine from Deutz as well as a new linkage, too.

But it’s up in the cab that the operator is first confronted by the full array of techno on offer, including the Vario-terminal used to set up engine, transmission, linkage and hydraulic operation – in fact, the monitor almost drives the tractor. For anyone who prefers levers to switches and analogue to digital, the total effect verges on the intimidating. Which brings us back to the start: To get the best out of this tractor and to justify its undeniably hefty price tag, the 716 operator must be prepared to overcome any understandable apprehension, put in plenty of operator manual homework, and come to grips with the tractor’s sophisticated control set-up.

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