Case IH’s new ActiveDrive 8 version of its latest Maxxum Multicontroller tractor range has been awarded the Machine of the Year title for 2018. Judged by a panel of European agricultural magazine editors, the accolade has been given in recognition of the performance and cost-saving benefits the new transmission and other range developments bring to this tractor market segment.

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The Machine of the Year award, one of the key events on the Agritechnica agenda, is judged by journalists from the German agricultural publications agrarheute, traction, Agrartechnik, Land & Forst, Bayerisches Landwirtschaftliches Wochenblatt and from other international agricultural publications. The journalists make their overall selection from 14 categories ranging tractors and other self-propelled equipment to implements. The winners of each category are then revealed in mid-November, before the overall MOTY winner selected is revealed at Agritechnica.

An entry into the MOTY ‘mid-class’ tractor bracket, the latest Maxxum Multicontroller models feature a new semi-powershift transmission offering eight powershift steps in each of three ranges. Named ActiveDrive 8, it joins the existing four-speed semi-powershift and continuously-variable transmission options available on Maxxum tractors, which respectively have been renamed as ActiveDrive 4 and CVXDrive. ActiveDrive 8 provides a total of 24 speeds in both forward and reverse. The transmission incorporates a number of features designed to make the tractor more efficient and the driver more relaxed. A creeper version is optional available for special applications.

Covering speeds up to 10.2 km/h, range one is specifically designed for heavier draft work. For special applications requiring very low speeds, such as vegetable crop work, ActiveDrive 8 is also available with additional creep speeds. Range two, the main working range, covers nearly 90% of all field, grassland and loader application requirements, allowing the tractor to work under full load, without any torque disruption, from 1.6-18.1 km/h. For road travel, the transmission is designed to start in range three, and a skip-shift function allowing quick progress through the powershift speeds. An auto shift feature means the tractor can be set to progress automatically through any set of eight speeds in the field, and through all 16 gears in the top two ranges on the road. A pedal kick-down function can be used to over-ride the transmission automation and cause it to downshift.

In terms of operation, the clutch pedal is not required, making the transmission suited to power-hungry tasks where momentum is important, such as cultivations or mowing with twin or triple mowers. A true power shuttle ensures no loss of drive or traction during changes of direction on slopes, while ´Active Clutch’ feature improves ease of stopping and safety at road junctions or when stacking bales with a loader. Both shifting and shuttle can be modulated for a faster or slower response according to the task in hand.

“We are delighted to win the Machine of the Year award for 2018 with the Maxxum Multicontroller with ActiveDrive 8,” says Andreas Klauser, Case IH brand president.