John Deere 4WD farm tractors are a common sight in the Netherlands, both on- and off-road. Outside the city areas, you simply can’t miss them. That is, if you pay any attention. Here’s a number of them, standing still, just posing for the camera.
A 6830 Premium with a Krone TX 460 D silage wagon. To quote Uncle Jimbo: ‘It’s coming right for us!’
A 6155 R, towing a Duport 4 In Line Flex liquid manure tanker with an injector.
Zooming in on the ‘4 In Line Flex’ part of the tanker, it’s all about reducing soil compaction. Both combinations were on display at the August 2024 edition of our regional Harvest Days.
And now we’re back at the Vlastuin Group’s open house day, held last month. Their agro-division, Vlastuin Mechanisatie BV, sells and services John Deere tractors, among other things.
A representative of the current series of Deere tractors, this 6R 215.
The John Deere brute of the day, a 7R 330, powered by a 9.0 liter inline-six turbodiesel.
A 6135 R, carrying an Atlas knuckle boom crane. The rear fender extensions come with the package.
Such a setup is used by the local tree nurseries, a major line of business in the center of the Dutch river delta. The young trees are exported to many countries in Europe and beyond, in massive numbers.
An unfolded Atlas crane, mounted on a 6130 R, sitting comfortably in a corner of the workshop.
This video shows it all, the farm tractors are not only used to tow the flatbed trailers with the trees, but they also play an essential role in the whole (un)loading process. Watch how the curtainsider gets loaded through its open top.
Here’s a different type of crane equipment, originating from Scandinavia, where this kind of machinery is used in the logging industry. The Kesla loader crane comes from Finland, it’s resting on a 6135 R.
And another one, a Kesla 314 T loader crane on a new 6R 145.
Speaking of Finland, their Valtra farm and forestry tractors are available with a factory reverse drive system, known as TwinTrac. Vlastuin Mechanisatie developed a comparable system for John Deere tractors, marketed as the ‘Vlastuin omkeerinrichting’.
And it works and looks like this. It’s certainly more convenient -and better for your own chassis- than twisting your back and neck.
And that was that. Hauling grass, injecting manure, and working hard in a nursery. There’s no business like agribusiness.
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Very nice sampling but these are not 4wd tractors, they are MFWD row crop tractors. 4wd tractors have a larger frame, articulated steering and equal-sized tires.
To these American eyes it’s interesting to see these tractors without a GPS receiver on the roof, John Deere or aftermarket. Pretty much any new machine today has a receiver as precision ag adoption is quite high.
Anyway, nice rigs and cool to see! Thanks
Technically you’re right, but articulated tractors with equal-sized tires don’t exist here. The tractors like the article’s Deeres (also widely used in earth moving) are always simply designated ‘4wd’, even the small/narrow models as used by fruit growers. Apart from the freeways, you can see them driving on each and every public road, both inside and outside built-up areas.
BTW, in Germany they even call such tractors -and trucks- ‘Allrad(antrieb)’, all-wheel drive.
10-4! I should’ve stated that mine was simply the American perspective. Thanks for sharing.
The closest we came to the concept you mentioned were the MB Trac and the Ford County. Neither of them with articulated steering though.
Only wheel loaders would fit the bill, also widely used in agriculture and also frequently driving on public roads.
Nothing costs like a Deere! At breakfast this morning with a dairy farmer friend we talked about how in the ’70s when we started farming 100hp was a big tractor.
In the horticultural line of the agribusiness they can still highly appreciate a 100 hp tractor, give or take some horses. The Deere below was also supplied by Vlastuin…to a tree nursery.
Thank you, nice to see! Especially since I grew up near Moline, Illinois, the HQ of John Deere for the last 177 years…