BRAND NEW McCORMICK X6 415 - MTX 140 - TANDEM CULTIVATING - PIGTAILS - IBBETTS.

Right, so just heading up to the field now. We've both got a couple of pigtails on. Pigtail cultivators. So Darren's on his MTX 140. I'm on the X6415. We're down a rough farm track now. Which again is no bother for the little McCormick. Just sliding down there a treat. Such a smooth little tractor. I am blown away by it to be fair. I really am. So we're up to 30km now. Notice, notice Darren's not keeping up with me because he's got no suspension at all. He's got no front axle suspension, no cab suspension and I suspect he's going as fast as he can stand the seat. Which is not to say that like just because you've got suspension on a tractor means you can, you know, tear arse down a track and let the tractor take all the abuse but... the fact is the suspension does take the suspension you know take the the bumps out not only for me but for the tractor itself so i mean we're just plodding down here quite happily i wouldn't say i'm going too fast for the for the tractor it's quite happy Darren's half a mile behind so we're cruising along at just over 8k uh we're doing roughly i would say about 20 litres an hour it's going up and down as you might imagine as we go through easier bits than hard bits. I've got the permanent four-wheel drive in, I've got the diff lock is on auto, so when we lift out, turn at the headland, it disengages. And I'm doing it all via the joystick as well, so it's just very easy to use. Very easy, even for a basic, you know, basic track with the basic hydraulic levers, you know. It's very easy. I've set the preset engine so we just press that, go down a couple of gears, lift it up, double tap the Ford reverser, get ready to spin round, double tap it again. See, diff lock is disengaged at the minute, really good steering lock on it. Drop the pigtail in, let it lug a minute. Don't really know it's in the ground, does it like? Press that for preset revs. up a couple of gears I do tend to like keeping for field work I do like to be in control of the gears just so you can hold it in you know I want to do 8k so I'll hold it in 8k if it bogs down a bit I can just drop down rather than tractor up and down constantly like so I do tend to run in field mode you know in fields in manual like so we've jing along quite nicely really comfy in here there it conditions keeping me nice and cool. What's not to like? So we're not doing a poll on who likes George Saunders? We can do. You can talk about what you want. Time to get high-headed a bit. Pigtail on. Yes. So you'll know how this before Paris and your thoughts. It seems as Darren is the performing expert. He's been We've done half a fill on yours. I've been on this one, obviously on the new one. You've now took control of the new one, so we'll get your thoughts as a McCormick expert. I wish you wouldn't call me any. The foremost UK expert on McCormick tractors. That's what I think you are, anyway. So, yeah. So, can I say what I think you are? This should be interesting. Can I tell everybody what I think you are? Come on, dude. Be my guest. Be my guest. We'll wait for him to leave. Wait, he's got the gear here. One of the immediate differences is how smooth everything is and quiet. And I love this joystick. Forward and reverse on a button is brilliant. No clutch. That beep is just telling us that I've selected a forward or reverse. No clutch required. Drop it in. Auto rev. Yeah, I think you can definitely say things have improved in the... 23 years since they built the MTX. You'd be fairly disappointed if they hadn't I suppose. I have to keep looking at the joystick which button I'm pressing. I'm sure that the longer you used it you'd just get used to where they all are. That forward and reverse clutching gate or disengagement and then re-engage. How do they make it so smooth? I genuinely think that's smoother than you could do it with a foot pedal. that is just the press of a button yeah well i'm sure those of you that have driven new tractors or new newish tractors will be like oh yeah that's quite a common feature to me that's yeah it's new and amazing we're on the very short runs now into a corner so yeah if you wondered why i keep turning around quite so quickly yeah wedging ourselves into a corner this field is actually triangle shaped I think that's maybe why George said I could have a go now. Make me do all the work. I'm not sure why George thinks I'm the leading expert in these McCormicks, because I'm far from it. I did buy one, yes. But mine is so different to anything that you'll buy these days. But in actual fact, mine isn't even really a McCormick. It was built by a McCormick. It's actually a case. Painted red. Oh and with a different engine of course, Perkins. My MTX is an 02 2002. So it's only two years after the Argo company purchased the McCormick brand from obviously Case IH. Case IH only sold it because they merged with New Holland and were told they had to. Mergers and monopolies and all that sort of good stuff. Apparently you're not allowed to own too many brands all in one, all under one roof. So yeah, they sold it off in 2000 along with the Doncaster factory here in the UK, which then subsequently closed in 2007 anyway. I suppose, yeah, for anybody that didn't know or doesn't know, McCormick is owned by the Argo Corporation. A-R-G, yeah, I think it's A-R-G-O. who also own Landini. So yes there will be some similarities I suppose between these red ones and the blue ones, the Landini blue. I suppose in the same way there's similarities between a red case and a blue New Holland both owned by the same company. I'll be honest I don't know how George talks to you guys quite as well as he does. It feels really strange sitting here. Trying to have a conversation and talk to people which I don't mind doing But nobody's responding. Yeah, it's quite Feels quite weird. Tell you what for a four-cylinder engine, I don't 4.2 litre is it? Not 100% It's gutsy. I've only got it at 15... No, it's not even 1500 rpm. I want to keep this one Yeah, I don't want to pay for it. I do want to keep it Right, we're on a headland now. We might need a few more revs in a minute. Maybe. I don't know. No, it's just chugging along. I mean, we'll easily pull more revs, but George is trying to take a photo of us. Or a video. Looks like David Bailey squatting in a bush. And stop. Yeah, so Nick, if you're watching this, which hopefully you might do, Nick's the salesman, by the way, if anybody didn't realise. that's kindly lent us his tractor. Yeah, if you're watching this, Nick, can I bring back the other one? My one? We'll just sort of... We'll pretend it's the same colour. I'll try and wind the hours back, make it look similar. No, I really like this. Really do. Anyway, we're going to go and find Mr Saunders, see what he has to say about my cultivation efforts. Thanks for watching. Well, I have been talking, but I find it... I even said just then... I don't know how you do that. What talking? Well, A, talk and concentrate, but no, talk to yourself as if you're talking... To someone else? Yeah. Do you stand in the mirror at night and practice? Yeah, all the time, mate, yeah. Because you want to ask a question. Normally, when you're talking to somebody, yeah, you get the expression or... What do you mean? Yeah. Nothing. Yeah, it feels weird. So I don't know what Darren's been saying in here. I mean, God knows. But we've just obviously just swapped over. And he did say it's just a very nice place to sit, which he's right. It is a very comfy, well-accommodated cab. Very nice place to sit. Yeah, I'm trying to think if I've covered all of the features. Yeah, so as we wait for Darren just to catch up now. So you've got all the vents up round here, up round the top of the cab for the aircon. And that's just a lovely nice sort of cooling breeze on me, just keeping it quite nice and cool in here. Yeah, there's loads of... I tell you what, how much headroom is there there, like? No end of it, like. That is where your climate control is. Floor space is good. So we've got the drone down there. we've got the uh the big camera there the pocket three's in that little pocket there plenty of space for um odds and sods there's me cup that's where my cup holder is right there there comes the old mtx 140 we'll get out of the way yeah so we're just going to work it back across that way now um just to knock it make sure it's all knocked down nicely basically so who's down what is darren doing now He's not done a lot of field work old Darren. Old boy look. But he'll get it. He's enjoying himself anyway look. So we're off. Old little four cylinders, a talky little engine. FPT like we say. So FPT with Carrara front axle. Gear changes. Lovely and smooth even under heavy draft. Beautiful mate. Beautiful. So we're crossing the work now. About 90 degrees. So obviously it's a bit more uncomfortable. Well, it should be more uncomfortable, but little old tractor, she's taking the bumps out. I'm more comfy in here than Darren is in there. But that's just the way I think, isn't it? That is the evolution. And see, you know, where the origins of this tractor are, like, you know, sort of 20 years ago in that one, like. Biggest downside, it's not going to sound as nice as the old MTX which sounds lovely, doesn't they? But that's just modern tractors for you. Other than that, ease of operation, a lot better as you might expect. Comfort's a lot better, speed's better. Ease of operation, so many things like, so many things. Crash into Darren, looking for a tractor in that 150 horsepower segment. Definitely have a word with your local McCormick dealer and have a try on one of these. Just have a try. Just see what you think. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. I was hoping this was going to be a nice decent tractor and it exceeded my expectations. And now I'm kind of drooling a little bit for the X7624. Can't wait to try that, to see what that's like. but this has been a hell of a surprise lovely lovely little tractor um yeah so if you if you're looking for something this sort of size give it a try literally just give it a try a nice little play with the old uh x6 ain't we very nice tractor yeah it's all right ain't it like very very nice very very nice tractor yeah certainly like i've said on on on the video it's exceeded i mean i was hoping it was going to be a nice tractor you never know it might be You might like it, you might not like it, but it's a lot better. It exceeded my expectations. Than you thought it was going to be. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It has mine, actually. I like the gearbox. It's a lovely smooth gearbox, isn't it? I really like that gearbox for what is a standard gearbox, as far as I know. Yeah, just a straight, used as a parachute gearbox. Just a parachute gearbox? Yeah. Yeah, really, really nice. Really smooth gearbox. Brake to stop on it, all them sort of features. Yeah, cracking little machine. I love the forward and reverse on the joystick. That's how they've got it so smooth. I don't know if you got me in the cab, but I love that. No jerking us at all, is it? At any throttle. Yeah, any throttle, but I liked it even when it disengages. Even if you've still got the implement in the ground a bit and you disengage. It's gradual rather than a bang, isn't it? It's really smooth. So is it like... Is it worthy? Is it worthier than being the McCormick brand? I like the fact that it's still also got some elements of the original McCormick Doncaster. What, like the silver grille? The silver grille, the indicators. I know the cabinet indicators are a different shape to mine. I think they're the same as Matt's though, the 04 McCormick. But the arms are the same. You can see the style. The draft and the control. The forward and reverse shuttle. Yes. Orange. I know it's a different shape, but it's still orange. You can see the heritage, can't you lot? It might not be British anymore, but there is some bits there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that engine. A little four-pot. Four-pot, just over four litre. Lovely. Ever so smooth. Yeah. and pretty torquey as well, I mean FPT engine they are a good engine. So we've seen this one, next one is the X7, I'm excited for that. X7 624 so that'll be the next one we have a look at, look forward to it. Anyway I hope you enjoyed that video, yeah we'll see you on the next one, ta-ta. Bye bye.

In the second part of our look at the McCormick X6 415, we head to the field with pigtail cultivators.