Modern Tractors Part One (DVD) - Presented by Stephen Richmond

Presented by  Stephen Richmond and narrated by Jonathan Whitlam, the two DVDs which  constitute Modern Tractors take a close look at the new  tractors of the first years of the 21st century.

Part One brings  together the most sophisticated machines from John Deere, Claas,  Valtra, Same Deutz-Fahr and Case IH. Stephen also explains how the  powershift transmission has developed over the years to give more  automated functions before developing into the ultimate - the  constantly variable gearbox of the 21st century.

Each  manufacturer's models are looked at, starting from the origins of the  models built today so that with John Deere we start with the 6000 and  7000 series of 1992 and see how they developed through the various  models since then until we see the present day 6030, 7030, 8030 and  9030 ranges all hard at work. This is then brought right up to date  with the latest 8RT series crawlers.

The Claas section  sees the advent of the Renault Ares range which was later taken over  by Claas as well as the development of the Xerion tractor and the  Caterpillar Challenger sold in Claas colours. The new Claas Axion and  Arion ranges brings the Claas story up to date.

Valtra  starts with the Valmet and later Valtra Valmet tractors of the 1990s  before moving to the new T and S Series built under the ownership of  AGCO.

Same Deutz-Fahr brings together many different  makes including Same, Lamborghini and Hurlimann but here we  concentrate mainly on the Deutz-Fahr line which has since proved to  be the trend-setting brand within this Italian group of companies.

Finally Case IH comes under the spotlight with a look  at the development of the high horsepower Magnum range. This starts  from its inception in 1988 and runs through to the powerful Magnum  range of today as well as the MXM and MXU models and the Maxxum and  Puma models that replaced them, to name but a few.