The battle for bigger and more powerful tractors looks to be heating up. There are multiple pictures circulating of what appear to be a new and more powerful Case IH Quadtrac and John Deere RX.

While there is lots of talk of smaller autonomous vehicles working in swarms, there is still very much global demand for extra horsepower to pull wider working kit. Just a couple of weeks ago, Claas unveiled its biggest ever tractor range, the two model Xerion 12 with the flagship having a 15.6-litre Mercedes-Benz motor peaking at 653hp.

As part of the development of the new Xerion, Claas quizzed current and potential customers and one of the things asked was how much power they wanted. The consensus was 650hp was sufficient, but it seems Case IH and Deere users are demanding even more power.

There is nothing official from either Case IH and John Deere, but both manufacturers appear to be preparing to smash through the 700hp barrier.

Starting with Case IH, our German colleagues reckon that the ‘715’ recognisable on the bonnet of the spy pictures provides an idea of the power. In fact, some online comments suggest that the maximum power of the Cursor 16 in the new king Quadtrac is kicking out 780hp.

Not to be outdone, grainy pictures are also circulating online of what appears to be something with larger tracks, frame and bonnet than the current John Deere 9RX640. Is it a new 9-series tractor, or is it, as some comments suggest, a 10RX, and has the 13.6l John Deere engine in the 9RX640 been swapped for an 18l block in the new tractor?

We are unable to confirm anything concrete at the moment, but the new Quadtrac will reportedly break cover at the Farm Progress Show in Illinois at the end of this month followed by the European premiere at Agritechnica in November.

We will have to wait and see if John Deere has mapped out similar launch venues for the new, bigger RX, although one tractor of the trio we confidently expect to see at Agritechnica is the new Claas Xerion.

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