Tractor test: We head back into more general-purpose territory this month with a full-test assessment of the Claas Arion 430 CIS. Sourcing its 81kW/110hp (ECE R24) from a four-cylinder motor, the 430 CIS joins a growing band of higher tech but still mainstream 100hp+ tractors that have emerged over the past few years
IThere’s a generalisation made so often in the tractor industry that it has almost become a cliché – that livestock farmers only want a simple, no-frills tractor to just do a job, and no more.
As with most of the glibbest generalisations, however, there remain some glorious, welcome and very significant exceptions. For most definitely out there, and in increasing evidence, are those stockmen who are seeking a few more creature comforts to ease them through their daily chores, and it’s into this category that the featured Claas Arion 400, in CIS spec, most definitely falls.
Out on the market now for 12 months, the Arion 400 CIS is proving a popular filler for those buyers who require more sophistication than the simpler Axos line has to offer, but then need something physically smaller than the Arion 500, which we looked at in our October 2009 profi issue along with the slightly higher tech 600s. For the UK and Irish markets the Arion 420 CIS model is working out to be the bestseller within the range, yet there are also plenty of 430s out there – and it’s this model that we focus on here. Key benefits over the standard tractor are a 15hp power boost, auto headland pto, four pto speeds, increased rear lift capacity, three double-acting spools, air-con, additional front work lights, swivel air seat, mudguard extensions and an optional Quadractiv auto-shifting transmission.
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