This excerpt was originally posted on the John Deere, Straightforward Blog August 29, 2011. You can view the original post here.

John Deere Testing

You could call the Nebraska Tractor Test Laboratory the Consumer Reports of the tractor industry.  As the designated official OECD agricultural tractor testing station for the United States, the lab conducts tractor performance tests and publishes credible and usable tractor performance data.

The tractors tested at the Nebraska lab are often powered by the same engines used in off-highway construction equipment. This makes the Nebraska tests somewhat of a bellwether for the construction equipment industry, providing customers with insights as to how their Interim Tier 4 (IT4) engine will perform when it comes to power, efficiency and total fluid economy.

Recently, the lab tested the John Deere 8335R tractor. The 8335R is equipped with a PowerTech PSX 9.0L engine featuring a cooled EGR for NOx reduction and an exhaust filter for PM reduction; the same engine that powers the John Deere IT4 744K wheel loader. Despite doubts that emissions reductions and fuel efficiency can go hand in hand, the 8335R results were exceptional.

The 8335R is the first row-crop tractor ever tested at Nebraska that breaks the 300-rated PTO horsepower barrier delivering a record 306.6 PTO hp in the rated-engine-speed PTO test. This record-breaking power was achieved while maintaining industry-leading fluid efficiency with 15.45 hp hrs/gal delivered in the drawbar test at 75 percent of pull at max power.

This strong performance for the 8335R demonstrates that John Deere’s cooled EGR and exhaust filter solution for Interim Tier 4 is the right choice now. For more information, check out the Official Nebraska OECD Tests at http://tractortestlab.unl.edu/testreports.htm.