Known for its tillage implements and sprayers, Horsch has a long a history of attempting to mount its products directly onto tractors to create a self-propelled machine dedicated to a single, or a small group, of tasks.
The company started exploring the idea back in the 1980s when it created the Terra-Trac, a three-wheeled power unit that was designed specifically to operate the company’s Seed Exactor, a combined rotavator and drill.
According to descriptions of the time, the concept involved the top level of the soil being tilled by a horizontal rotavator.
While the soil was still in the air, the seeds would be laid on the ground to be buried under the descending soil. It was an energy demanding operation.
Yet it was not limited to that task alone, for slurry and fertiliser spreading were also part of its repertoire by mounting either a tank or hopper on the cargo deck behind the cab.
Minimal tillage
This machine had been developed in line with Horsch’s philosophy of farming without the plough and spearheaded the conservation farming movement, especially in France.
Tractors of the time simply did not have the power to to properly fulfil the potential of these large one-pass drills, leading to Horsch taking the matter into its own hands with the Terra-Trac.
The Terra-Trac was developed to handle the Seed Exactor planters and was originally equipped with a 250hp Deutz air-cooled engine – which might seem tame today, but would have been quite a beast 40 years ago.
Having three flotation tyres, the weight of the machine was spread across its whole width, avoiding the two ruts that come with four-wheeled tractors with the axles in line.
The Terra-Trac met with some success and in 1995 was still on sale in the US with a claimed power rating of 350hp.
It was only finally withdrawn from the market in 2002, displaced by the advent of tine drills in the company’s portfolio.
Big Brother
The quest for bigger tractors was not confined to the creation of the Terra-Trac.
In 1989, with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the great tracts of land in the former Soviet republics and Russia itself became available to western farming practices, and they would soak up whatever power was available, and more besides.
Horsch was not slow in recognising this, so it came up with something bigger still, and that was the articulated K735, sales of which commenced in 1994.
The K735 was not totally the company’s own machine though. Instead, it was an adaptation of the Russian built Kirovets K700, which was originally intended as either an agricultural or artillery tractor, depending upon the political circumstances of the time.
Gun tractor base
Horsch took the basic K700, added a cab of its own and adopted the chassis, engine, four-speed transmission, and axles, alongside fitting modern electrical and hydraulic systems.
It was an interesting experiment, but the company was not, at heart, a tractor manufacturer with all the downstream service and parts commitments that involves.
It is suggested that the K735 was intended to establish the drilling and soil cultivation technology at extended widths within Russia and the former eastern bloc countries.
Yet issues with the base unit and the collapse of its Russian dealer network saw production end in a couple of seasons after 25 had been built.
Other marques
Following on from this venture, Horsch tried its hand at adapting the JCB Fastrac for slurry spreading, known as the AT200, and the Doppstadt A200 for spraying.
The Doppstadt A200 was the embodiment of the MB Trac in a new guise which had a rocky career before submerging altogether sometime after 2005, as the company turned towards making quarrying equipment, such as graders and crushers.
Horsch puts legacy to use
The company has not given up on self-propelled implements, for it has distilled its knowledge and experience into a range of sprayers known as the Leeb series, an old German word for ‘lion’.
The Terra-Trac may be long gone but it is not forgotten – a few years ago, the company found an early example and brought it back to the factory for restoration by its apprentices.
Many parts were no longer available, but there was still some relevant knowledge and experience amongst the longer serving members of staff who had worked on the machines when they were in production.
Although back to pristine condition, and even with ISOBUS installed, the Terra-Trac is limited to just 220hp in its reconditioned state.
It now serves as a proud reminder of the company’s long-standing commitment to innovation.
