Rubber tracks have reigned supreme on large arable farms for nearly three decades, but is their popularity threatened? Following 13-years on tracks, the Baker family from Suffolk returned to tyres in 2022 when a John Deere 7R350 replaced an 8370RT. So, why did the change happen and how has it worked out?

KEEPING IT BRIEF

  • Wheeled tractor performs as well as crawler
  • Greater flexibility has increased annual hours
  • Much better on-road comfort
  • Greater performance in wet conditions
  • Establishment system geared towards reduced-disturbance
Paul Baker of Suffolk family farming business Messrs E Hudson Baker (left) with operator Terry Alexander.

A two-and-a-half-year-old John Deere 7R350 is now the prime mover on the Baker family’s farm at Gipping in central Suffolk. As well as an 800ha arable operation, unusually for Suffolk there is also a dairy enterprise which allows for slightly more diverse cropping but also means there is fodder and manure to be dealt with.

Setting the scene

Historically the farm had always been steadfast Massey Ferguson users, aside from a lone John Deere 3130 in the 1970s. The first of a series of changes begun in 2001 when the farmed area was virtually doubled by a contract farming agreement, and the machinery fleet was upgraded to cope with the additional workload. 

Massey Ferguson had been the favoured brand for many decades. An 8240 duo were the farm’s largest in their day, and proved to be capable all-rounders.

This saw a pair of 180hp Massey Ferguson 8240 tractors purchased. The cultivations strategy was completely plough-based, so one was on narrower tyres as virtually a dedicated ploughing tractor whilst the other was fitted with wider Michelins for secondary cultivations and drilling.

Combines had always been red too, but in 2005 slow service due to branch rationalisation meant that by the time the local dealer deemed the farm’s Massey Ferguson 40RS uneconomic to repair, harvest was looming and Massey hadn’t got a combine of sufficient capacity in the country to offer as a replacement. Quotes were obtained, and a John Deere 9780CTS was chosen from dealer Tuckwells. Green tractors followed, and a Fergie 8240 was replaced with a 200hp 7920 Deere in 2006. 

The shift to green and yellow tractors begun in 2006 when a John Deere 7920 replaced an 8240.

Onto rubber tracks

The 7920 was a well-liked workhorse, but in spring 2009 a larger prime mover was needed when a retiring operator wasn’t replaced. A 280hp John Deere 8330 was selected, fitted with Stocks H-Traks on the rear and Trelleborg Twin 414 750/45 R30.5 low-profile tyres on the front. This was the farm’s first involvement with rubber tracks. 

A John Deere 8330 half-track, equipped with rear Stocks H-Traks, was the farm’s first foray into rubber tracks and was an excellent performer.

“We chose the half-track to gain traction and reduce ground pressure without having to fit dual wheels or wide tyres,” recalls Paul Baker. “We were farming some wetter land which wasn’t owned so we couldn’t invest, and whilst the plough-based system gave a wider window we were finding wet spots. The half-track avoided sinking-in on tender soils and didn’t increase the road transport width either, which was another big consideration as we have to travel through the middle of a local town to get to some outlying land.

One of the half-track’s main benefits was its light footprint, making it just as well suited to carrying out secondary cultivations, without any additional width.

“Driver comfort was another major factor, especially whilst carrying out secondary cultivations such as pressing and springtining on the plough,” he adds. “Although with hindsight, it wasn’t all good as it shook the implements and driver about on the road.”

In the field the 8330 performed very well, working with a fully-mounted seven-furrow Dowdeswell 145 Series on-land plough, 3.0m Sumo Trio, 6.0m Väderstad NZ spring tine and 6.0m Rapid drill. 

The half-track boasted excellent traction and still retained its diff lock too. It was used with a seven-furrow Dowdeswell 145 Series on-land/in-furrow plough.

“The 8330 was a wonderful tool, you couldn’t see where it went and it was very good on the headlands,” says operator Terry Alexander. “It had far better traction than a wheeled tractor, and you still had a diff-lock as well unlike a crawler. But when it got wet the tracks just filled with mud and it wouldn’t pull a duck off a nest.

“It was also very uncomfortable,” he recalls. “There was absolutely no suspension, everything was solid. It was fine on cultivated or ploughed land but, if it saw a furrow, or so much as a cat’s eye on the road, the ride was terrible.”

Unfortunately, in August 2009 the offside track unit spun around, causing damage to the tractor which was put out of action for a few months.

“A pin had come out of a stay bar which held the track unit in place,” explains Paul. “It was thought that long stubble had unclipped a lynchpin, and the pin had worked itself loose. The damage was put right, and the tractor returned in December.”

Twin-tracks takeover

“The half-track had been very good and offered the best of both worlds, with huge traction which it retained whilst steering,” says Paul. “We would’ve probably had another one had they been available, and we also looked at a Lynx version but John Deere would no longer warrant the tractor using either system, so we chose to move to a twin-track crawler instead.”

The 8330 was traded in against a new 345hp John Deere 8345RT crawler in November 2011. The more powerful twin-track worked with the same implements as the half-track. 

The half-track was replaced with a twin-track 8345RT which worked with the same implements and carried out the same tasks that the half-track had.

“It was a good tractor in a straight line, and fantastic when conditions were right,” comments Terry. “It did most of the cultivations and the drilling, but it didn’t do any more work in a day than the 8330, and at the first sign of a puddle it made you wonder why you were even trying.”

The crawler was also used for seedbed preparations, including power harrowing with a 6m Maschio.
The crawler was used as much as possible, even for rolling with a 15.3m wide He-Va King Roller.

The crawler replaced with a slightly more powerful 370hp John Deere 8370RT in March 2017. Whilst its predecessor had the AutoPowr transmission, the new tractor was fitted with Deere’s E23 automatically-controlled powershift.  

“We were intending to reduce power slightly when changing, but the 8370RT was in-stock and actually cheaper than ordering a smaller lower-spec model which also had a nine-month lead time,” explains Paul. “It didn’t seem to use more fuel than the 8345RT, possibly because of its gearbox only using as much power as it needed. It was quieter for the driver and had only minor warranty covered issues such as with the track tensioners which were sorted as part of a recall.”

From 2001 to 2022 drilling was carried out with a series of Väderstad Rapid cultivator drills. An 8m was used with the 8370RT.

Returning to tyres 

In summer 2022 the 8370RT was replaced with the farm’s current flagship, a 350hp John Deere 7R350 wheeled tractor with AutoPowr transmission. The return to rubber tyres coincided with a change in cultivations strategy towards low-disturbance crop establishment.

The 7R350 took over in summer 2022. At the same time the farm shifted towards a low-disturbance crop establishment system which saw the Rapid replaced with a 6.0m Horsch Avatar.

This means using no-till when possible, but flexibility is key, with varying degrees of cultivations carried out as needed using a Väderstad Carrier, TopDown and Sumo low disturbance subsoiler to incorporate manure, loosen and level, plus ploughing, which is still favoured for some spring sown crops.

Typically, a 6.0m Horsch Avatar disc drill is used when it’s dry, a 3.0m Triton knife tine-type drill when it’s wetter, and ploughing and combi-drilling in situations where compaction has occurred such as following late harvested maize and sugar beet. 

This variable approach means the 7R has to be very adaptable, doing everything that the 8RT did and more. It has proven to be up to the challenge, undertaking all tasks from drilling to mole draining, with improved performance in arduous conditions.

The system is flexible, so the 7R350 has inherited the same implements that were used with the 8RT (other than the drill), including a 6m Maschio Aquila power harrow.

“It’s doing the same jobs as the crawler and there hasn’t been any need to change the machinery,” says Terry. “It ploughs on-land equally as well, and has more staying power when it turns wet. Plus, if it’s really wet than you can drop into the furrow and plod on, which the crawler couldn’t really do.”

“We hadn’t ever managed to plough as much as we had hoped with the crawler,” agrees Paul.  “Especially after maize and beet we frequently ended up using wheeled tractors, either hiring-in something or using a smaller tractor and plough. In these conditions the crawler was only as good as what power could be put down through one track. We could’ve possibly weighted it up differently, but equally for drilling we wanted it lighter, so it was all a balance.”

Headland turns when drilling is something else that the 7R350 does better than the twin-track crawlers, causing far less disturbance.

The wheeled tractor is far less disruptive to the headlands when drilling, especially working in conventional cultivated seedbeds like this. The Avatar drill is used in all situations, including after the plough.

“The crawler was alright in the dry, but if it was a bit smeary you could always see where the tracks had run when the crop came up, and the headlands were always weaker than the main field,” says Terry. “I always had to drill the headlands last and it never went as well, having to move more soil to level out where the crawler had turned. But with the wheeled tractor I’ve gone back to drilling the headlands first again.”

Trailer work and ride comfort

The wheeled 7R350 is naturally far more versatile and it has also been used for a considerable amount of trailer work. A further reduction in labour has made this capability all the more useful.

“Because of the cows we have more trailer work than a purely arable unit, so the 7R is used virtually every week of the year for something,” notes Paul.

“The wheeled tractor is far more of an all-rounder,” agrees Terry. “It has done a lot of corn carting, taken liquid fertiliser out to the sprayer and even gone on a topper, and the crawler would’ve been stood-up for all of this time. I’ve not missed the crawler at all.” 

The far greater flexibility offered by the wheeled 7R350 means it is also used for tasks such as topping legume fallow with a Bednar rotary.

“It is clocking up 1,000 hours a year, which I never did with the crawler,” he adds. “Even though we used it as much as we could, rolling ploughed land for example, it would only do around 500 to 600 hours a year.”

Of course, using the 7R350 on a trailer at harvest time means it isn’t available for cultivations, but in reality this potential conflict isn’t an issue.

At harvest time the 7R350 is called on to cart grain. Extra duties like this contribute to its 1,000-hour yearly tally versus 500-600 notched up by the crawler it replaced.

“This was more important when we were using a fully plough-based system and wanted to get on straight after the combine simply to get around everything in good time,” recognises Paul. “Now we have a smaller team but a wider window so we don’t tend to need to do both jobs at once, plus we have to clear the straw before we can carry out any cultivations anyway.”

The 7R350 has proven equally as capable as the 8370RT at pulling the same implements. When ploughing on-land it has more staying power in sticky conditions.

As well as the in-field and management benefits, a huge improvement in ride comfort has been a very welcome benefit. 

“Back in the day I had really wanted a rubber track crawler, and thought it would be perfect to do my jobs,” says Terry. “But it wasn’t at all comfortable, and didn’t do my health much good. The 7R350 is so much nicer to drive.”

“One of the biggest considerations when changing was definitely operator comfort, to avoid the rough ride and vibrations of the tracks, especially on the road,” agrees Paul.

Running costs

Although the 7R350’s extra road miles will increase tyre wear rate, this isn’t seen as an issue and just spreads wear more evenly across the farm’s tractors.

“Something will be wearing, whatever we do, but it won’t do enough to wear the tyres excessively,” notes Paul. “It’s hard to compare running costs as we never swapped tracks, the crawlers went before they were worn out. Our policy has usually been to keep tractors for around five years or 3,000 hours whilst in warranty, but that may change going forward.”

“All of our John Deere machinery is covered by PowerGard Protection maintenance plans, so whilst I don’t necessarily know exact repair and maintenance costs at times to be able to draw a comparison, it does give a known figure and Tuckwells provide us with a fire-engine machine if needed, which is very important,” he points out. “The crawlers had been leased, and we will probably return to leasing in future but, at the time, buying the 7R350 was more tax efficient.”

Summary

Rubber-tracked tractors have been the go-to tool for primary cultivations on many large arable farms in East Anglia for a long while, especially on heavier soils, and no doubt will always have their place. But advancements in tyre technology and changes in farming systems and establishment techniques, have all contributed to making high-horsepower wheeled tractors more attractive again, if only for versatility alone. After all, a wheeled tractor could even be used on the hedgecutter if needed.

Chris Lockwood

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