Jerry Ryerson (Iowa, USA), whose farm has been running Fendt machinery for more than 10 years now, believes Fendt tractors have only two drawbacks. “First, if you buy one Fendt, within a year you’ll want another one,” he says with a smile. “And second, if you have hired workers, your own chances of driving the Fendt yourself aren’t that great.”
Getting more serious, Ryerson says there’s nothing he doesn’t like about the two Fendt tractors he currently owns. He used to have Fendt 818, 820 and 716 tractors, the 716 being his very first Fendt. Today he runs a 412, of which, he says, there are about a dozen across America, and a Fendt 824. The 824 is used for pre-seeding soil preparation and sowing, while the 412, fitted with a Fendt loader and a mounted excavator, works as a general-purpose tractor.
“I also use the 824 for hauling, with two 760-bushel trailers,” he continues. “Even if I have to haul grain five miles, I still keep up with an 8-row combine.” Ryerson says a range of functions and capabilities make his biggest Fendt an ideal transport vehicle, not least its 32 mph road speed. “With the Vario transmission and ABS brakes, stopping and starting is perfectly smooth,” he explains. “What’s more, with Fendt’s responsive steering and stability control system, I can just drive, without the slightest trailer sway.”
And, of course, Ryerson is just as happy with how the tractor performs in the field. According to him, after picking corn he works 110 acres with a 20-foot soil ripper, using just 0.7 gallons of diesel per acre. Fendt’s attention to detail also impresses him greatly, such as the built-in air compressor, sufficient hydraulic pressure for swapping dual tyres, and the Varioterminal control system, which lets him control all the tractor’s systems from a single touchscreen.
“I’m just thrilled with the headland turn management programme,” he says. “I can make changes to the programme right during work. I even managed to link automatic steering to it, and now it kicks in automatically after each turn.”
“Once you get behind the wheel of a Fendt, you won’t want to drive anything else,” Ryerson sums up. “And I’m not the only one who thinks so. Other people have ridden with me, driven the tractor. And they’ve said: ‘How could you buy anything else?’”
