Tractor of the Year newcomers Valtra, part of the AGCO corporation, were the big winners at yesterday’s (November 12) Tractor of the Year 2018 Awards.
Having never been featured in the competition before, they received two nominations this year. One was for their A114, in the Best Utility category. But it was the Valtra Versu T254 Smart Touch that was the star of the show, landing both the Best Design and the prestigious overall Tractor of the Year award.
The awards are decided by an independent jury made up of 24 industry experts from 23 countries across Europe. Judging takes place over a series of events and tests organized over the months leading up to the final awards ceremony. At these events all the jurors get to meet the entrants and take the vehicles through their paces.
The jury were particularly impressed by the way the Valtra sets “a new standard in intuitive operation, offering a high level of comfort, performance/efficiency and versatility.”
In summing up their decision the statement from the jury continued, “The standard fitted Smart Touch armrest with the 9in touchscreen, the intelligent multi-use drive lever and the new hydraulic joystick gives the best and most straightforward user interface in the industry which allows the driver to control and adjust almost any setting of the engine, transmission, the hydraulics, autoguidance, telematics etc. As a matter of fact, it’s a new way of working with tractor terminals overall.”
The winner in the Best Utility category was McCormick’s X6.440 VT-Drive, while the Best of Specialized category was won by the Fendt 211 Vario V.
The nominees in each category were
Tractor of the Year
Case IH Quadtrac 540 Cvx
Claas Arion 660
John Deere 6250 R
New Holland T 6.175 Dc
Valtra Versu T254 Smart Touch
Best Utility
New Holland T 4.75 S
Valtra A 114
McCormick X6.440 Vt-Drive
John Deere 5125 R
Massey Ferguson 5709 Dyna 4
Best of Specialized
Massey Ferguson 3710 S
Kubota M 5101 N
Fendt 211 Vario V
Claas Nexos 240 VE
Aebi TT 281
All nominees in the three main categories were entered in the Best Design award.
