High speed tractors

whats the forums opinion on them?i was stuck behind one the other day think it was a fasttrack or summat?and the trailer it was towing was huge maybe 18ton.im assuming it was running on cherry and it was doing 55k surely this is taking the ■■■■ :imp:

Would it be taking the ■■■■ if it was doing 15mph?
Or only had a 6 ton trailer?

It’s just a tractor. I can’t see the problem.

This is something that has been going on in the country for years. There was a crack down and if they are doing it for hire or reward then they are subject to the same laws regarding O licence etc as as a haulier.
Needless to say it still goes on,wrong in my opinion but it is what it is.

cieranc:
Would it be taking the ■■■■ if it was doing 15mph?
Or only had a 6 ton trailer?

It’s just a tractor. I can’t see the problem.

Well some may see the problem as if a law abideing haulier has to go to the extra expense then is it fair that that haulier has the bread taken out of his mouth by someone who doesn’t?

My opinion is that the Fastrac is a high speed agricultural tractor series manufactured by JCB Landpower, part of the J. C. Bamford group of companies.
Production began in 1991, with continual development to the present day. Generally the maximum speed of most models is 65 km/h (40 mph) but other speeds both slower (40 km/h) and faster (80 km/h) are produced and that all models have six cylinder diesel engines. Initially supplied by Perkins Engines, the current suppliers are ■■■■■■■ and AGCO SISU Power.

My opinion is also that three different gearboxes have been fitted to the Fastrac in production.
The first type has evolved over several years.
On introduction of the Fastrac this style of gearbox had 18 forward gears (6x3) and 6 reverse (6x1). This were organised as 6 manual gears in each of 3 ranges (Low, Medium and High). The range box also selected reverse giving 6 reverse gears with speeds similar to medium in forwards. All gear changes were made with the use of a dry clutch.
This gearbox then had a 2 speed powershift section added after the dry clutch and before the 6 speed gearbox. This resulted in 36 forward gears (2x6x3) and 12 reverse (2x6x1).
Following this the 2 speed powershift section was changed to 3 speed version. Giving 54 forward gears (3x6x3) and 18 reverse gears (3x6x1)
The latest version of this gearbox a wet clutch replaced the dry clutch still with 54 forward and 18 reverse gears.
The second type fitted only to 8250, 8280 and 8310 Fastrac models features a CVT (IVT) hydrostatic power-split gearbox which is one of the most advanced tractor gearboxes available.[citation needed]
The third type developed most recently and fitted to 7000series and 3000 Xtra machines has a wet master clutch, a six speed powershift section and a four speed range box. As reverse is at the front of the powershift section the reverse gears are spread throughout the speed range. This arrangement gives 24 forward gears (2x3x4) and 12 reverse gears (1x3x4). Note that the top three reverse gears are not available for use.

But that’s just my opinion :wink:

^ Class :laughing:

ShropsBri:

cieranc:
Would it be taking the ■■■■ if it was doing 15mph?
Or only had a 6 ton trailer?

It’s just a tractor. I can’t see the problem.

Well some may see the problem as if a law abideing haulier has to go to the extra expense then is it fair that that haulier has the bread taken out of his mouth by someone who doesn’t?

could you not buy one ? just saying like … :sunglasses:

bowser:

ShropsBri:

cieranc:
Would it be taking the ■■■■ if it was doing 15mph?
Or only had a 6 ton trailer?

It’s just a tractor. I can’t see the problem.

Well some may see the problem as if a law abideing haulier has to go to the extra expense then is it fair that that haulier has the bread taken out of his mouth by someone who doesn’t?

could you not buy one ? just saying like … :sunglasses:

For local work you mean or continental?

ShropsBri:

bowser:

ShropsBri:

cieranc:
Would it be taking the ■■■■ if it was doing 15mph?
Or only had a 6 ton trailer?

It’s just a tractor. I can’t see the problem.

Well some may see the problem as if a law abideing haulier has to go to the extra expense then is it fair that that haulier has the bread taken out of his mouth by someone who doesn’t?

could you not buy one ? just saying like … :sunglasses:

For local work you mean or continental?

both i would say , if its a farm tractor you could get a caravan on your trailer and hoik that along aswell … result .

Well I was going say don’t be silly but you caravan idea has solved the sleeping idea! :laughing:

cieranc:
Would it be taking the ■■■■ if it was doing 15mph?
Or only had a 6 ton trailer?

It’s just a tractor. I can’t see the problem.

no as i could have over taken it and if it had a 6 ton trailer he would have been carrying less than me :smiling_imp:

I’ll lay my cards on the table, i am a fastrac driving farm worker, i can legally drive a fastrac on the road at 16 as an agricultural vehicle, at 40 mph, without any drivers hour restrictios (no tachos) so long as i am involved in a agricultural activity related to my employers business as long as wedont exceed 24300ish gvw and we dont need an o license to do this, trust me we have looked into it to the enth degree.

However i passed my class 2 last week and as soon as my license is returned i will be taking class 1, and this is because i think that legislation is going to change in near fortune. My problem with fastracs and the way they are used is because they are operated with 20 tonne ish trailer grossing over 40 tonnes in some instances and used for straight haulage over other businesses produce. Some of you should realise though that isnt a cheap option,yeh red diesel is cheaper than white but not to the degree it was, some of our fastracs are doing well if they average 4mpg on a round trip, pricing up new fastracs its going to cost us around £135k to purchase and a trailer is going to cost 20-25ishk depending on spec, so the outfit is going to cost 155-160k on the road, shurely a truck could cost considerably less■■?

Our costing get us to £35-£37 per hour to run are any of the owner drivers on here willing to gve some info on the cost of runing a truck■■?

Please dont shoot me down in flames
James

The one 50 seconds in would do for me

youtube.com/watch?v=3lmE17Dg … ata_player

Nice first post James and welcome to the forum.

So the diesel might be half the price, you use twice as much?
Your post certainly puts a bit more perspective on the situation.

cieranc:
Nice first post James and welcome to the forum.

So the diesel might be half the price, you use twice as much?
Your post certainly puts a bit more perspective on the situation.

but as a tractor it doesnt pay any road tax,i think?

mutley:
The one 50 seconds in would do for me

youtube.com/watch?v=3lmE17Dg … ata_player

Youve never gone that fast in yer wagon av yer :laughing: you wouldnt get yer nights out at Runcorn Truckstop otherwise :wink:

But costs considerably more in the first place :slight_smile:
And I wouldn’t like to be buying tyres for one!

little fergie.jpg

now ya talking … :sunglasses:

correct no road tax to pay but when you spread your road tax out across tonnes hauled im going to put moneyon it that it is significantly less then 1p per tonne mile so relatively insignificant when spread out over a year. I really am not standing up fot fastracs, they i would reckon haul a maximum of 20 tonne/ load (highky illegally) use more fuel take longer cost more, but where can i find some running costs to compare to a truck, you also need to remember that our fastracs probably only run for 1100 hours a year so that is basically 100 days at 11 hours per day so even less scope to spread the cost over!!! For tyres we would be budgeting on £1000 a go same for trailer tyres so we can drive on the field!!

James

Fastracs don’t seem as popular as they used to be around here. Big John Deeres seem to be the contractors heavy choice. AreGastracs overrated? I ask because when I drove plant, I always preffered Case 580 and Cat 428 over a JCB 3cx. Not very patriotic ( and Sir Anthony Bamford lives not far from here) but I neverliked their wheeled diggers.