Amazone launched its first self-propelled sprayer back in 2009, the numbers sold in the UK having since gone from strength to strength. Will this new model take the Pantera to another sales level?
KEEPING IT BRIEF
- Pantera 4504 has a nominal capacity of 4,500 litres
- All-new cab and DirectInject option for spot treatment and buffer zone spraying
- Base price from £323,060. As tested £434,980
It’s 25 years since Amazone unveiled its first self-propelled sprayer model. A lot has happened since then and, at its recent in-house Amatechnica 2026 field day, the company showed off its latest machine, the upgraded Pantera 4504. We got an exclusive first drive.
Everyday comfort
The headline Pantera 4504 development is the cab. As before, the cab itself is made for Amazone by Claas, this latest update seeing a move to the latest generation. From the seat, the new cab feels more up to date, with a well thought out layout that offers plenty of storage space, a large cool box and detail updates to include a heated and ventilated seat. Two cabin trim levels are offered by Amazone in the German market: standard and premium. The latter adds a leather seat, sun blinds for the side windows, some extra footrests and other detail niceties. Category IV cab filtration comes as standard on both.
Amazone controls
Amazone has not adopted the Claas Cmotion drive lever, choosing instead to retain its in-house developed armrest and joystick. The latter sits nicely in the hand and offers three core operating modes selected via a switch on its back.
The selected mode illuminates a different coloured LED light, with further customised settings enabling often-changed functions to be altered without releasing grip on the joystick. The settings selected are displayed on the adjacent 7in display.
The armrest with its joystick is not cluttered up with other controls, with just two rocker switches to operate the parking brake and fold the cab access ladder.
The parking brake also has a selectable auto hold function.
Twin terminals
The 7in screen is used to monitor the main functions to include the unit’s current engine speed, engine temperature, forward speed and fuel tank level. It also allows operators to set up, control and store cruise two speeds and alter the track width hydraulically. Two different wheel widths can be set in the Pantera memory, with the ability to select the maximum track width easily to optimise stability across sidling ground.
As to the actual sprayer controls, these are operated via either a standard fit AmaTron 4 touchscreen or using a choice of optional ISObus screens that will come with guidance systems. A Topcon unit was fitted to our test model. The sprayer user interface matches those offered by Amazone on its UX trailed sprayers.
The standard reversing camera was joined by the optional underbelly camera on our unit.
Flexible running gear
The Pantera wheels mount on axles linked in tandem to the centre of the chassis. This design layout is claimed to improve the way in which the sprayer rides, with each wheel having its own hydraulic suspension ram. Amazone suggests this mode of suspension protects the spray boom and gives a more accurate spray pattern.
Track width is adjustable from 1.80m out to 2.20m as standard, with the ‘W’ spec, wide variants having the track width adjustable from 2.25m to 3.20m. Also on offer is a ground clearance adjustable ‘H’ option that allows the sprayer to be raised hydraulically from the standard 1.20m clearance to as much as 1.70m. Both of these two options were fitted to the test model, these adding £6,940 and just under £30,670 (ex VAT) to the base price respectively. Our HW+ model had the added ‘Plus’ option for use in steep terrain. This has a different set of planetary drives to the wheels to boost torque in difficult going.
The ‘Plus’ transmission has a maximum of 40km/hr transport speed, down from the optional 50km/hr on offer with the higher geared standard model. Further options include wheel motor guards and dividers ahead of the wheels to minimise damage in tall crops.
A familiar engine
Amazone continues to rely on Deutz six-cylinder engines, the Pantera 4504 having a 218hp unit. The machine’s driveline is fully hydrostatic, with the Deutz engine directly coupled to the pumps powering the wheel motors and hydraulic functions. There is no mechanical intermediate gearbox.
In typical working conditions, the sprayer runs in Eco mode, electronics controlling the engine speed to optimise fuel use. When climbing up a slope, or spraying in difficult ground conditions, Eco can be overridden at the press of a button. The engine can then be set to operate at a constant, preset speed to deliver more power. Fuel tank capacity is 290 litres, AdBlue 20 litres.
A point to note is that the sprayer has a rated towing capacity of 16 tonnes and can be specified with air trailer brakes (German market specification).
Two pumps and 4,750 litres true capacity
Although the Pantera 4504 has a nominal tank of 4,500 litres, maximum capacity is nearer 4,750 litres. The sprayer features two hydraulically-driven, piston diaphragm spraying pumps mounted on the right-hand side of the machine and under a cover.
Positioned to provide easy user access, the pumps are both rated at 260l/min. Comfort-Pack Plus, listed as a £7,225 option, adds an extra water pump to fill the clean water tank when bowser filling. It also means that fresh water is supplied to the induction bowl to ensure sufficient pressure for all functions when the sprayer is not being filled through the self-fill hose.
Comfortable induction
The induction bowl is a generously-sized 60 litres with a draw-out rate at an impressive 200l/min. On previous models, the bowl could be retracted hydraulically as an option. Here, now, simplified spring assistance does the same job. It worked OK but a handle would make folding the bowl back in easier. An easy-to-read contents scale is marked on the hopper.
The bowl lid is well designed with separate storage provided for a measuring jug and a pair of nifty hangers for empty cannisters allowing them to drain. Any spills neatly run back into the induction bowl via the sloped drain channels.
The connections for Closed Transfer are a standard factory fit. A hand-held spray gun, rim rinse ring and cannister rinse nozzle are also standard, the Comfort-Pack Plus adding an extra rinse nozzle. When the induction bowl is folded in, the rinsing cycle starts automatically, flushing out the bowl with 20 litres of clean water. A user-friendly touch, incidentally, is that the automatic fill stop system takes this 20 litres of rinse water into account.
Clever fill and mix features
A 7in screen is incorporated down at the fill station and really helps to monitor and control the filling process. In outline, you select if you are going to fill the clean water or chemical tank and by either suction or pressure. Then the computer positions the taps needed automatically and shows the flow as blue for clean water or green for chemical. Simple.
The fill-stop levels for both tanks can also be set via the screen. For the spray tank, there is an additional fill pause that can be set at a defined fill level, such as at 80%. This is very handy when making up a more complex mix, as it enables the operator to concentrate fully on mixing. To help reduce foaming, the filling speed can be reduced and the cleaning nozzles activated at low pressure to just trickle water onto any foam build-up to knock it down.
The intensity of the agitator can also be varied, with an automatic function reducing agitator output as the tank fill level drops, switching it off completely once the level falls below 200 litres.
A useful winterisation guide is programmed into the terminal, providing the operator with all the steps needed to prepare the sprayer for laying up and ensure antifreeze reaches all the spray lines as appropriate. The neat system can handle most of this automatically, but a few jobs still need to be carried out by the operator.
Up to 48m boom width
The boom design is carried over from the design used on trailed UX sprayers and the previous Pantera 4504 generation.
Boom widths on offer start at 21m, with the widest 48m. Our test sprayer was fitted with a 36m wide boom equipped with both ContourControl and SwingStop, with these optional features enabling the sprayer to operate at speeds of up to 30km/hr.
SwingStop vibration damping, a £2,000 option, is designed to reduce boom tip sway. Two sensors detect excess boom movement that is then counteracted by two dampers.
ContourControl automatic height control incorporates six sensors to keep the boom level to the ground over undulating terrain. We found it worked well, even at speeds in excess of 25km/hr, with the boom remaining steady. A low working height of just 30cm was easily possible at these speeds.
Boom sections can be folded independently to allow working around obstacles such as pylons, and they can also be angled up or down individually to adapt to contours or during headland turns.
The 6m boom tips have hydraulic overload protection to allow break-back if something gets hit, with the tip returning to its working position when the obstacle is cleared.
There is a further option to allow the tips to be folded to reduce the working width from 36m to 30m or from 36m to 33m. The boom can also be specified to operate at 36m, 30m, 24m and 12m.
DirectInject now an option
The established Amazone DirectInject spot treatment and buffer zone spraying system is now an option on Pantera. The additional tank sits on a platform between the cab and the main tank and is fully integrated into the sprayer controls (See profi 06/22 for further details).
Service and maintenance
Daily and routine servicing chores should not pose too many problems. The sprayer’s suction and pressure filters are easy to reach and check without tools, but access to the engine and dipstick is a bit of a climb. As to greasing, Amazone offers a central lubrication system as a near £5,315 option. This looks a good choice, but the lubricator grease reservoir cannot be topped up from ground level.
Underneath the cab, Amazone has built in a useful compartment for transporting spray cannisters which are kept in place by a pair of lockable metal bars. The storage locker cover has a sensor to automatically switch on a light when the flap is opened. The bowser fill connection is also located at the front, under the cab, so the boom can stay in its work position while a bowser fills the sprayer. Plus, there is a small compartment in one of the cab steps where smaller items and tools can be stored.
Summary
Although it is the new Claas cab and the option of the DirectInject system that are the stand-out features, Amazone has given its Pantera a wider update whilst sticking to the proven tech of the outgoing model. There are some excellent features on these sprayers to include the fill station and neat auto functions.
As you would expect, all this technology comes at a price. As tested, the Pantera 4504 HW+, with its adjustable width and height and Comfort-Pack Plus package, has a retail price just shy of £435,000. This tag compares with a figure of about £323,000 for a Pantera 4504 in entry-level spec.
More generally, the Pantera is a powerful self-propelled sprayer that offers plenty of operator comfort and potential output with compact dimensions and an unladen weight of 10,800kg. Add the W width and H height packages, and this weight climbs to nearer 12,100kg.
Sebastian Rüther
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