The Magnum was the first of Case IH’s tractors to get the new AFS control system, and the 400 model offers the biggest bang in the range with 291kW/396hp. Although this flagship is only available with a powershift transmission, it’s an attractive option for those seeking a pure arable tug.

Scan the Magnum line-up, and you will notice that the 310 and 340 are both available with the stepless ‘CVXDrive’ or featured powershift ‘PowerDrive’ transmission. But with the fresh-faced models launched two years ago, the 380 is the largest of the Magnum CVTs, with a rated power of 283kW/380hp before climbing to a maximum boosted output of 324kW/435hp. Look across to the mechanical transmission tractor, and
there is no 380 — only a Magnum 400. The reason for the difference in model name, is the PowerDrive version has more power (295kW/396hp) on tap at its rated speed for heavy draft jobs like cultivating and other tug work, so someone in the Case IH marketing department clearly thought it deserved a bit
more of a mention.

Having tested the previous generation 380 CVX back in the 12/2016 issue, we decided to give the powershift 400 AFS a shot.

Economical FPT motor

Before heading out to the field, we swung by the DLG test centre with our Magnum 400. Hooked up to the dyno, the tractor produced 260.8kW/349.7hp at its rated speed and a maximum of 291.7kW/391.2hp at 1,800rpm. Both are very acceptable output results and correspond to the boosted rates of our 2016 Magnum 380 CVX test

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