John Deere DirectDrive delivers 4% fuel saving

Fuel savings of up to 4%, with John Deere’s DirectDrive transmission, have been measured in test facilities and independent field tests, compared with currently available transmissions.

DirectDrive is optionally available on the latest John Deere 6R Series tractors from the 140hp 6140R to the top of the range 210hp 6210R.

It won the tractor category in the new International Machinery Manufacturers Awards (IMMA) recently presented at Cereals 2014 in England.

The 24-speed DirectDrive transmission is designed to maximise productivity with lower fuel consumption for tasks that need continuous power, such as ploughing and towing, PTO work and road transport.

The transmission’s dual clutch technology has become the benchmark in the luxury car industry, and is now available in a tractor for the first time.

This semi-automatic system consists of eight powershift speeds in each of three ranges. Switching between ranges is rarely necessary, and the resulting minimal interruption to the power flow adds to tractor efficiency.

The driver can choose between a manual mode to take command of forward and reverse speed changes via the tractor control lever, or an automatic mode, in which the transmission enables fast changes between the eight speeds under full load, and also provides fully automatic changes between the A, B and C ranges.

An efficiency manager function automatically matches appropriate speed and engine rpm for maximum fuel efficiency.