Development of a CVT Transaxle with Differential Steering for a Tracked Tractor around 300 kW

摘要

Despite the sustained trend of increasing power for agricultural tractors, the range around 300 kW is still a relevant one. The discussion on how to address soil compaction at the point of maximal traction and row crop abilities is on-going in this market segment. To bring the maximum draft force on the ground using tracks instead of tyres becomes more and more important in the recent years. Furthermore the increasing number of CVT's in agricultural machines is significant. Besides the high driving comfort and the versatility of CVTs, Graf [1) has shown how efficiency and dynamic vehicle characteristics could be further optimized through a CVDT concept. The goal for AGCO was to merge the most modern CVT technology and the advanced tracked tractor design of Challenger in a new product that fit the highest demand on efficiency and versatility for an agricultural machine. For the requirements of a tracked vehicle a new rear axle with efficient differential steering was integrated in the TA300T drive line. The development effort was reduced to a minimum, using modular functional groups and common parts. With this strategy the newest CVT technology at highest quality level has been introduced even in a short development time.