Long-term tractor test: Fendt Vario 820 This month we break away from our tractor test norm – to see if Fendt’s premium price tag and perceived reliability are all they’re cracked up to be. The Vario 800 line-up has ranked among the manufacturer’s top sellers since its launch in 2003, so, with this in mind, Mervyn Bailey catches up with a 2008 Stage 3a powered 820 model.
It is a well known fact that Fendt tractors carry a hefty price tag. Justification? Inevitably, a major part of the salesman’s argument is the perceived reliability of the German marque, resulting in healthy resale values. But does this argument of stand-out dependability stack up? To find out we’re back in long-term test mode to see how one owner rates his Vario 820, the current best-selling tractor from the Fendt stable in the UK and Ireland.
The Vario 800 range has been with us since 2003, and over that time it has remained largely unchanged. Among the tweaks were the introduction of TMS in 2005 and then in 2006 the move from a Deutz Stage 2 engine to a Stage 3a motor, when the range also received a modest re-jig. The lower powered models were dropped, leaving the 820 in the sole company of the popular 818. So, apart from these tweaks, it is fair to say that Fendt must feel it got something right from the start; otherwise, surely the firm would have brought about more wholesale 800 design change.
We first looked at the Vario 800s in the January 2004 issue when we tested an 818. The Vario 820 with its newer engine came under the spotlight in the April 2008 magazine, and more recently (profi 06/10) we also put the Greentec version through its output paces.
Our host root and arable crop farmer is in a good place to put us in the picture with regards to how the standard 820 model has performed, as he currently operates the three Vario 800 series tractors. Back in 2005, a 132kW/180hp Vario 818 was the first Fendt in the door when it replaced one of a pair of Deutz-Fahr Agrotron 165s.
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