The first ever agricultural-only wheel loader range by Claas was launched yesterday (November 12) at the Agritechnica fair in Hanover, Germany.
As soon as the doors opened for Sunday’s preview day, the official announcement was made, and crowds gathered at the OEM’s stand to get the first glimpse of the Torion range. The vehicles are a result of Claas’s continuing collaboration with Liebherr, which has already resulted in the popular Scorpion range of telehandlers, new versions of which were also showcased.
Wheel loader models start with the Torion 535, with a tipping load of 3.45 metric tons powered by a 63hp (46kW) engine, and go up to the Torion 1914 capable of a 12.4 metric-ton tipping load and powered by a 228hp (168kW) engine.
The Yanmar engines in both the smaller 535 and 639 models develop up to 68hp (639 model), and meet Stage IIIB emissions standards. The larger 1914 and 1812 models are powered by four-cylinder Liebherr engines, these machines develop 195hp and 228hp (143kW and 168kW), respectively, and meet Stage IV emissions standards with no additional diesel particulate filter (available as an option).
The infinitely variable hydrostatic drive has two drive modes: F1 from 0-6km/h, and F2 from 0-20km/h. The driver can switch from one drive mode to the other at the touch of a button, depending on the application.
“The transmission is from ZF, it’s the CMatic transmission,” a Claas spokesman told iVT on the stand. “So it has a hydraulic and mechanical part in it, so for pushing silage, for example, it has more power. The hydraulic only transmission would not achieve the same kind of power and would overheat the gearbox. This means it uses less fuel for pushing. It’s similar to the gearbox in the Axion tractor.”
“This is our first wheel loader,” he continued. “We have experience with our Scorpion telehandlers but that is the only experience in material handling. The motivation behind launching it, is that we had more and more customers that wanted a full line-up from Claas they wanted more for material handling, particularly for biogas manufacturing in Europe.”
First crawler-tracked forage harvester
Focusing on a theme, ‘It’s all about the soil’, Claas was also proud to show off its Terra Trac system fitted to a Jaguar forage harvester and an Axion tractor.
By adding the Terra Trac to its Jaguar, Claas is the first forage harvester manufacturer to present a factory-fitted integrated crawler track system for forage harvesters which protects the soil and grass cover with a unique, integrated headland protection feature.
Claas has carried out extensive research into soil compaction and the problems associated with it, and this is why the company has launched the Terra Trac system in a bid to eliminate the problem. Claas say the benefits of using this system on combines include 66% lower soil pressure compared with wheeled machines.
During a turning maneuver, the machine is supported on the middle support rollers, thereby raising part of each crawler track. As a result, the contact area and degree of soil pressure change briefly to a level comparable to that obtained with 800-size tyres.
With 635mm wide tracks, the Jaguar with Terra Trac remains within a transport width of 3m with a top speed of 40km/h. With 800 mm wide tracks, the machine has an external width of less than 3.5m.
By Chris McCullough
