Top tractor training

Shuttleworth College students are now training on the very latest type of tractor used in the UK farming industry.

Shane Durham enthuses about the equipment which will prepare students to become professional operators of this expensive equipment:

“The John Deere 6155 R Ultimate edition is a modern mid-sized farm tractor operating between 155 and 200 horse power. It has John Deere’s Direct Drive transmission which is a continuously variable transmission (CVT) similar to an automatic transmission in a car.  This gives it the ability to seamlessly change gear to reduce engine load and give speeds from 2.5kph to 50kph.  Hydraulics are load-sensing to adjust flow rate dependant on your application and features ISObus for seamless integration into most modern farm attachments.

“The tractor has GPS and auto-steer so once you have driven a straight line in the field the tractor will do the rest!  All you have to do is program your commands in and press the button to activate them.

“The GPS system is so good you can match up your ploughing with it!  You can even program the system to slow you down, lift the plough, drop out of four-wheel-drive and diff-lock and turn the plough.

“It is a serious tractor for a professional operator not just a tractor driver!”

Shane is Head of Land and Environment and Outdoor Adventure at the Shuttleworth College parkland campus at Old Warden near Biggleswade, Bedfordshire which has for 75 years been training young farmers in arable and animal management. Students from the college progress on to “outdoor” employment in a wide range of fields across the world, from agriculture and conservation to super yacht crewing.