Deutz-Fahr Agrotron M600 tractor – Operator review

James and wife Emily run a Te Mania Angus recipient and donor cow herd at Mansfield, Victoria, right in the heart of the state's high-country cattle range.

Keeping their herd fed is a job requiring high machine utilisation, which sees their Deutz-Fahr Agrotron M600 clock up several hours on a daily basis.

Te Mania Angus cattle are sought after for their high marbling steers and premium meat quality. The breed’s calm temperament allows them to be handled with low stress stock handling principles, which improves trust between the animal and its handler that stays with it throughout its life. This is important in ensuring a quality premium meat package.

At the McCormicks’ farm on the north side of Mansfield, it was mid-summer and the mercury was nudging a low 40 degrees Celsius. In the surrounding paddocks, the grass was short and golden brown.

James McCormick stepped out from under the shade of a large tree in his backyard and extended a warm welcome to me.

“You’ve picked one of the hottest days this summer to turn up,” he said with a smile.

“Well you’ll really get to see how well the air-conditioner works in the M600 today."

According to McCormick, his M600 is in heavy use all year round, from ground preparation to planting; and from harvesting to feeding.

“Our M600 rarely gets time to cool down,” he said.

“I specified the Agrolift 4020 Plus loader with the quick hitch option to allow for efficient implement change-over.

“At the moment I’ve got the forks on for lifting round bales and later on this afternoon I’ll swap them for the bucket to scoop up some dirt down the back paddock. It only takes a few minutes to change each implement.”

McCormick’s Agrolift 4020 came standard with the Euro front implement hitch, however some of his older attachments would not fit.

“Our local dealer Mick Hearn from Mansfield Farm Equipment did a few modifications to the Deutz-Fahr quick release so I could attach the implements from the old tractor,” he said.

“One of the main attractions with the M600 is the incredible visibility out of the cabin when using the front end loader,” he added.

“It is by far the best I’ve experienced. I spent some time looking at other brands and narrowed my choices down to a few, but the M600’s visibility swayed me.”

Engine

Under the bonnet of the Agrotron M600 lies a Deutz 6-cylinder, 6-litre DCR common rail, turbocharged and intercooled engine that delivers 141hp at 2300rpm. The engine is 100 per cent bio-diesel compliant and runs a powercore air-filter with dust ejectors.

Featuring an engine produced by one of the largest and oldest engine manufacturers in the world certainly instils confidence in the operator.

“Efficiency and productivity need to be constantly improved to reduce operating costs and that’s the philosophy behind the host of intelligent technologies built into the Deutz 6-litre DCR engine,” said Mick Hearn, owner of Mansfield Farm Equipment.

“These new Deutz engines have the power control feature, which ensures there is enough power on hand when needed, but at the same time reduces fuel consumption,” he said.

“It might sound somewhat contradictory, but the combination of the Engine Control Module (ECM) and Deutz Common-Rail-Technology deliver a very efficient engine control system.”

McCormick agreed, saying his M600’s performance in the paddock was much better than he expected. He was also very pleased with the fuel economy of the machine when it comes time to fill it at the end of the shift.

Transmission

The Agrotron M600 has the highly reliable and well-regarded ZF transmission. While there is nothing cutting edge about this gearbox, its simplicity ensures longevity and offers peace of mind.

The main gear shifter has six ranges and is located on the right of the operator.

The four powershift gears in each range can be easily operated with push buttons either on the gear shift or on a toggle switch on the arm rest. This gives the M600 a 24x24 transmission.

A display on the dash shows what powershift gear you are in.

Controls

Most of the controls are conveniently spread out on the right-hand armrest and console. As with other Deutz-Fahr tractors, all controls are colour-coded for ease of operation. Orange is for transmission, yellow for power take-off (PTO), green for linkage and blue for hydraulics.

Operators can control the engine rpm using a thumb slide on the armrest controls and as a bonus, there is a pre-set engine rpm memory button. Further back in the console are buttons for four-wheel drive, diff lock and ASM (acceleration simulation mode), which automatically engages and disengages both 4WD and diff lock, depending on the forward speed and steering angle.

Any of the four PTO speeds can be selected using two levers on the console, while a button on the armrest engages the PTO.

Hydraulics

It was impressive to see four remotes as standard on the Deutz-Fahr M600, as opposed to the three fitted on many other tractors. All four remotes feature an adjustable flow rate tap on top, while the controls in the cab use a cross gate joystick style lever. This is used to control two remotes, along with single levers for the other two remotes.

All controls are lockable and offer four positions - up , down, neutral and float.

Smooth ride

James said the two-point cab suspension delivers a smooth ride around the paddocks.

“It has a top speed of 50km/h and the engine is only running at 2100rpm, but drop back to 40km/h and the revs drop further to 1680rpm, which means I can get to and from my furthest paddocks in a timely manner without burning a lot of fuel,” McCormick said.

Great service

“Buying locally from Mick at Mansfield Farm Equipment means I have great back up service right at my door,” McCormick said.

“That might not sound like much but when you’re in the middle of harvest and the machine needs servicing quickly, that’s when it counts,” he said.

“It’s really hard to put a price on that kind of service. It’s reassuring for us to know we have that back up support.”

“Price wise, the Deutz-Fahr Agrotron M600, complete with the Agrolift 4020 plus loader, was very competitive,” McCormick added.

“There wasn’t much between the M600 and the other tractors on my short list.

“The reason I chose the M600 just came down to simplicity of operation, reliability, the visibility and of course the local back-up service. And so far I’m more than happy with it and I wouldn’t hesitate to look at another one in the near future,” McCormick concluded.

Deutz-Fahr M600 Agrotron specifications

Make: Deutz-Fahr

Model:  M600 Agrotron

Engine: Deutz DCR Teir-3 6-litre

Power: 141hp

PTO Torque: 864nM

Fuel Capacity: 270 litres

Transmission: 24/24 forward/reverse gears

Hyd/Linkage: CatII/III hook ends 9200kg lift

Wheelbase: 2647mm

Length: 4587mm

Total Height: 3054mm

Total Weight: 5730mm