300hp Steyr impresses Meath potato grower

Finnegan’s Farm, well-known potato producers based in Balrath, Co Meath, purchased a Steyr Terrus 6300 in August last year. This stylish machine is the first new Steyr-branded tractor to be sold in Ireland for a number of years.

The 300hp workhorse was used to pull a 4m trailed Lemken Solitair drill, sowing around 1,000 acres. This tractor comes fully loaded with RTK+, having a reproducible accuracy of up to 2.5cm which is used for all of the tractor’s precision applications. This tractor gives the Finnegan brothers the option to go for a larger 5m drill in the future.

As the tractor is physically so large, and it’s shod on such big tyres (650/60R34 and 900/60R42), it is limited in what it can be used for.

In February, the tractor pulled a Scanstone four-body ridger, ridging for early potatoes. The addition of the Steyr meant that a John Deere 8430 with 10,000 hours took a back seat in the operation. During the harvest later this summer, the Steyr will be used to pull a 25t double-axle Pronar grain chaser.

The new tractor has clocked up over 520 hours. The tractor has run perfectly, with no issues to date.

The Steyr Terrus 6300 accompanies a Case Optum 300. Aside from the livery and cosmetics such as the styling of the cab and the bonnet, these tractors are practically identical. We spoke to Alan Corrigan, the man who has operated the tractor since its arrival, to find out his opinion on the red and white powerhouse.

Likes

Alan said the tractor is very user-friendly. The controls and the touchscreen terminal are intuitive and easy to use. The tractor is equipped with the full LED lighting package. It has the proven Case CVX continuously variable transmission. The large tyres combined with the front suspension mean the tractor is extremely smooth on the road. Despite the large front tyres, the tractor has a very good lock. Alan added that the tractor is very steady on the road.

He said the tractor is very economical for its size. “When ridging 4-4.5ac/hour at 1,400-1,500rpm, the tractor burns around 25 litres/hour.”

Dislikes

Alan feels the cab is a little tight for space. The large corner post on the righthand side of the front of the cab limits the operator’s visibility. To gain access, the operator must stand on the first step to reach the door latch which is situated midway up the large door.

The rear mudguards are quite long and tend to stick out a little. Alan said if the operator is not careful they will catch the mudguards with implements such as the ridger. Visibility of the telescopic hitch is very poor and requires the operator to almost lean out over the seat to keep an eye of the hitch when attaching or detaching implements.

Machine specs