During 2018's maize harvest, Robert Tuckwell Partnership (Farmers and Contractors) in Buckinghamshire chopped 2,870 tonnes in 16 hours with a new generation Claas Jaguar 980.
While it is uncertain if this is a new UK record, it certainly proves the new range-topping Claas Jaguar is a force to be reckoned with.
Dan Tuckwell is a self-confessed advocate of the Claas self-propelled forage harvester. Farming under the banner of the Robert Tuckwell Partnership (Farmers and Contractors), Dan and his father Robert have graduated from seasonally hiring a Claas Jaguar 690 back in 1996, to presently owning two Jaguar 900 Series harvesters.
The upgrade from hiring to buying first occurred in 2003, when the company purchased a second- hand Claas Jaguar 820 model.
At the time, the Tuckwells were harvesting about 1,200 hectares per season. However, as the business continued to expand, the need for more power also increased.
The increasing popularity of maize in the UK, spawned by the rapidly expanding demand for renewable energy, encouraged Dan to take the leap from the 800 Series up to the next level, when in 2009 the business purchased a brand new Claas Jaguar 940.
Two years later, this would be replaced by another 940, which was upgraded to a Jaguar 960 model in 2014.
With more and more work coming in, a second harvester was purchased in 2015.
Dan's choice was a used Jaguar 950 model, which for three seasons provided support for the 960 during both the grass and maize harvesting campaigns.
Rated at 664hp, the Claas 960 proved a reliable and capable machine.
However, with three seasons of hard work already under its belt, at the end of last year Dan decided it was time to replace it.
He says: "We knew Claas had made some improvements to the Jaguar 970 and 980 models, but I wanted to see what else was out there.
"We tried Krone, John Deere, New Holland and Fendt machines, all of which had some good features.
However, when push came to shove, it was the Claas 980 which stood out.
Process
"My harvester driver is Tom Pickford, who always takes part in the purchasing process by sharing his input with me. Tom really liked the Fendt Katana 85, however, we both felt it lacked the refinement of the Claas Jaguar 980."
The latest Claas 970 and 980 (type-498) self-propelled forage harvester models were introduced last year, when Claas announced a melee of improvements to what was already regarded as a well-proven design.
Having made a deal to replace the Jaguar 960, the dealer responsible for delivering the Tuckwells' new Jaguar 980 was the Tingewick depot of the Claas agency Oliver Agriculture.
Having worked closely with the Olivers for many years, Dan acknowledges that having a dealer which unconditionally supports the product it is selling is vital to the success of any contracting business.
"If it means keeping the harvester going during peak season, Olivers will send a technician out to attend the machine at midnight if necessary. I honestly cannot fault the service they have given us."
Dan's appraisal of the new Jaguar Claas 980 indicates that despite its mechanical differences, from an operational perspective the new model differs very little from its predecessor. However, when they put the machine to work, the additional harvesting capacity of the 980 was immediately apparent.
Dan says: "When Tom first drove it, he was genuinely concerned because he could not find a break point where the harvester would block.
"It was handling a 15-metre swath in first cut grass at 10kph, loading our 18 tonne K-Two trailers in 90 seconds flat. Clumps in the swath did not faze it, it just kept going.
"From what we have seen this season, the development of the new continuously variable front attachment drive on the header has made the 980 virtually unrestricted in its capacity to pick up grass, even in the heaviest crops."
Shortly after the harvester arrived, Mr Tuckwell decided to weigh the loaded trailers while they were harvesting grass for one of his regular customers. He then compared the weighbridge tally against the total tonnage recorded by the harvester.
"I was impressed," he reports. "The weighbridge ticket stated we had harvested 994 tonnes. The forage harvester recorded 996 tonnes. I think that is pretty accurate."
Using telematics to record data during the harvesting season has provided Mr Tuckwell with the opportunity to compare the performance of the Jaguar 980 with that of the 960 model it replaced.
The data, once again, speaks for itself.
Powered by a 24.2-litre, V12, MAN engine producing an 884hp, Mr Tuckwell's records indicate diesel fuel consumption for the Jaguar 980 during the 2018 season averaged 66 litres/hour. This equates to a 10 litres/hour or 16 per cent increase over the figure recorded for the Jaguar 960 in 2017. But was that extra fuel being put to good use?
Throughout the 2017 season, the Tuckwell's Jaguar 960 harvested an average of 6.35Ha/hour (15.7acres/hour). During the 2018 season, the new Jaguar 980 averaged 8.6Ha/hour (21.3 acres/hour).
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This represents a 30.2 per cent increase in harvesting capacity, from a machine with 28 per cent more power. In short, no matter how you look at it, the efficiency of the new Jaguar 980 as a high-output harvester has unquestionably improved.
So how well did the Jaguar 980 perform harvesting maize? According to Mr Tuckwell, the Jaguar 980 can comfortably vacuum up maize at a rate of 200 tonnes/hour. During this year's maize harvest, the V12 Goliath smashed the contracting company's record for maize harvesting by chopping 2,870 tonnes of maize in a single day, using a 12-row Claas Orbis header, averaging 179 tonnes/hour.
"The harvesting record we established was on an 89Ha plot in almost perfect conditions," declares Mr Tuckwell. "We are not sure, but Claas has suggested this may be a UK record. To be honest, this year we have consistently harvested 2,000 tonnes/day of maize with the 980, but then it has been a very easy season."
Overall, is the new forager worth it? "The Jaguar 980 needs to stay on the farm for three years to pay for itself," concedes Mr Tuckwell.
"My intention is to keep it for four seasons and to keep the second machine as a back-up. The Jaguar 950 only did 566Ha this season, but it was work we would have otherwise lost.
"In my opinion, what Claas has done with the Jaguar 980 is take what was already a well-proven design and raise the bar on its competitors by making subtle yet significant improvements.
"We have demonstrated every rival to the new Jaguar 980 and, although there were features on other machines which we liked or even preferred, I think the big Claas remains the most comprehensive all-rounder."
ABOUT ROBERT TUCKWELL PARTNERSHIP (FARMERS AND CONTRACTORS)
ROBERT Tuckwell started farming at Milton Keynes in 1975.
In 1993, Robert's son Dan started contracting, initially as one man and a tractor, later working alongside a local silage contractor until he retired in 1996 and they hired their first Claas self-propelled forage harvester.
In 2000, the Tuckwells' contracting business won a contract with a local pig producer.
Since then, the business has continued to expand, working predominantly in the livestock sector, specialising in forage harvesting, baling and slurry handling.
The company additionally farms 1,092 hectares, split between maize and combinable crops, and operates a plant hire business, renting 360 degree excavators, grab-lorries and sweeper trucks.
ABOUT THE NEW JAGUAR 980
UPDATES to Claas' Jaguar type-498 foragers included a redesigned running gear, featuring a new hydrostatic (variable) double motor, to provide a wider speed range and reduced engine revs at 40kph.
Also new was a continuously variable front attachment drive for the grass pick-up and Orbis maize headers, in addition to what Claas described as an enhanced crop-flow design, which introduced a hydraulic clamping system for the shear bar and an improved knife-sharpening system.
Also making its debut on the Jaguar 970/980 models was the Claas Auto-Fill system.
Designed for automatically filling trailers, it features automatic crop discharge adjustment and a setting for filling trailers behind the harvester when making openings in the field.
Automatic diff-lock and park brake are also newly available as optional extras.
Verdict
With the Jaguar 980, Claas has has taken what was already a well-proven design and raised the bar on its competitors by making subtle yet significant improvements that increase its performance in both grass and maize. It's the most comprehensive all-rounder.
