A John Deere 9RX 640 tractor and Bednar disc broke a 24-hour tillage record in Romania by cultivating 769.40 hectares without stopping. The team worked continuously through extreme conditions to push the machine to its limits.
644 hectares in 24 hours. That is the current tillage record with our John Deere 9 RX640 and a Bednar disc with a working width of 18.4 meters. We want to try to beat this number. But is the 9 RX640 up to the challenge? Our location is Romania, near Bucharest, one of the biggest markets for agricultural products. Heavy and dry soil temperatures above 40 degrees during the day and just under 10 degrees at night make for a perfect location to test the 9 RX640 to its limits.
I'm feeling really positive, so the preparation is going really well. So we are in the last steps to get everything done. I'm excited when we started 24 hours here in the field in the center of Romania.
I'm a farmer and I want to try these kind of machines like the John Deere tractor and the Bernardi to the limit.
3:00Pm the starting signal for our challenge. From now on, it's all about full concentration for 24 hours. The first hundreds of hectares are going smoothly. The high drawbar panels of the 9 Rx is helping the team to work through the demanding soil.
The soil that we are working, it's a hard soil. That's why we need solid implements.
The temperature has already hit 35 degrees. The extreme heat is not only a challenge for the 9 RX640, but also for the drivers and the whole team. At one point, the team has to clear the Bednar disc of straw and dry soil. In this region of Romania, the average rainfall is only 450 to 600 millimeters per year. Will these extreme conditions throw a wrench in our plans to set a new record? During the whole time, the on site John Deere team monitors the performance and location of the 9 RX640 through the John Deere operations centre and remote display access. The working depths have been between 4-10 cm throughout the whole record trial. That's why it's important to have a powerful machine. With its 640 horsepower, the 9 RX has phenomenal performance.
9 RX 640 is the perfect tractor here for this disc. In point of power, in point of drawer power, in point of comfort.
So far everything's going according to plan. But how will the 9 Rx 640 perform during the evening and night?
So we are now in the second field. It's already 9 o' clock in the evening. That means we have already worked six hours here. We have done 200 hectares and that means we are totally in time. And now let's see what the night will bring.
Then around 10:30, the team faces the first driver changeover.
The visibility in the dark right now you can see that it's very, very good. So we can see very good the Bednar disc and his behavior. Because we are running very fast in this moment. At a depth of 6, 7 cm.
It'S now late in the night. The drivers are able to see a full range of 360 degrees because the 9 RX640 comes with 24 LED surround lights.
The tractor is very comfy and we are running very well. After eight hours of driving, we are watching closely what is happening. We can see that we have worked until now 300 hectares. We are in schedule. The fuel tank is at 30% in this moment and we have a fuel consumption with an average of 3.1 liters per hectare, which is a very good one. In one hour we move the trailer much more closer to the tractor because we don't want to stop too much. Maximum 7 minutes.
Around 3am, the 9 RX640 has to be refueled.
So we are prepared with the diesel and also with a small portion of AD blue and of course with two small portions of coffee.
After the refueling and repeated tightening of the screws on the Bednar Disc, the 9 RX 640 drives into the night, well prepared to tackle the remaining hectares. The night passes quickly and without problems. It's at the break of dawn and there are still 200 hectares left before the current record is reached. The team has another nine hours left and is still confidently working.
Shortly after after 7 o'. Clock. So we are back from the night. We just changed the drivers. The night was a success. We are really good in time with a great team spirit and we continue during the day now to get as most hectare as possible.
Shortly after the on site team races to the tractor, a hydraulic tube on the Bednar disc needs to be repaired. All hands on deck to fix the problem as fast as possible. They're losing time. Is this 30 minute break going to cost them the record? Over the last 24 hours, a total of 769.4 hectares of land has been tilled. That's nearly 125 hectares more than the current record. And then at exactly 3pm the 9 RX 640 reaches the finish line. The challenge is over.
I'm proud to stand now here in front of the 9 RX640 and the BNA disc with 18.4 meters and we fulfilled the 24 hours. We reached 769 hectares in 24 hours. I would say that's a great result and was a great and fantastic team collaboration between Bedna Ipso and the John Deere team to fulfill our new test here with the 24 hours.
