fastrac 3230

jcb411abuser

Well-Known Member
just been looking around on machinery sites, and there are no new ads for big renaults or any cheap john deere's or case, so i ended up looking at jcb as i ran out of makes i was interested in:D

anyways what do you all think of fastracs, what would a 3230 be like on say a 30 ft butterfly mower, it'll be light crops mind, or on a set of heavy discs. we have a few hills here and there and the odd wet spot, they can come with r34 tyres all round now, so maybe it's not the case of the old 155's and all that they were basically just a road machine and dare not enter a field with them.

so anyways what's the general opinion on them, do they deserve a more detailed look or should i keep dreaming of a jd 7810:lol:
 
I think the newer fastracs are a pretty good tractor. Good few of them working in fields and the high road speed is a defiant bonus although they are supposed to soft. Why not look at a Valtra, get James ds all exicted.
 
I think the newer fastracs are a pretty good tractor. Good few of them working in fields and the high road speed is a defiant bonus although they are supposed to soft. Why not look at a Valtra, get James ds all exicted.

sure if i got a fastrac with a sisu engine it'd satisfy him would it not:D

high road speed would be a minor plus for us as we wouldn't have that much roading to do but i like the idea of full suspension on them, cab seem to give a great view out kind of to the sides and back, no big mudguards in the way of seeing the rear mowers.

i was always put off them because of the small wheels but 34's should be grand for traction.
 
sure if i got a fastrac with a sisu engine it'd satisfy him would it not:D

high road speed would be a minor plus for us as we wouldn't have that much roading to do but i like the idea of full suspension on them, cab seem to give a great view out kind of to the sides and back, no big mudguards in the way of seeing the rear mowers.

i was always put off them because of the small wheels but 34's should be grand for traction.

I take it you haven't driven a Fastrac so :no:
Must rate as the worst views down to the linkage on the market,I'd say even a Steiger STX beats it :thumbdown: plus by all accounts the gearbox is made by Dairygold but I cant verify
 
Well i'm not worried about seeing the linkage, apart from hitching up because we wouldn't be ploughing with it or anything like that, just a bit of discing. It looks like it is easy to see out of to where I'd need it.
 
The only fastrac I'd go for is a smooth shift there was one on here with 17000 hrs on and hadent been apart even for a clutch . In saying that any I've seen at cheffins command big money.
 
i think that the venerable Fastrac get a bit of bad press,
some of it is a bit justified i suppose,,

we have had a 1135 since new , i was bought with a gem demount to do all spraying duties repacing a mounted hardi job, it was also used for hauling, top work and back up for drilling with a combi and ploughing with a 5f rev dowdeswell, (excellent at that well balanced and pulls like a train,
its a bit tired now its true, and is now just used for all the spraying with a new farmgem demount,

IMO it is excellent for hauling work, top work , its also preformed very well ploughing and subsoiling.

it does have apoor turning circle but you work round that, vision from the cab is excellent vision of the 3 pt linkage for attaching stuff is a bit lame as is using the PUH, it does need a bit "practise to become used to say backing a trailer onto a spud grader and being a non smooth shift box (its a 6 speed with a splitter and Fwd-rv on the dash) can be a bit on ones clutching leg but hey you get used to that,, controls are easy to use .

its not a fire and forget tractor though and needs a bit of sympathetic maintainence, ie regular greasing, servicing and generally looking after, it was ahead of its time when new and is still a comfy office..
ours has had a new clutch and new prop to front diff (due to piss poor greasing of UJs..) its had a few electrical issues (rectified) and an over haul of the handbrake assembly ( it was and still is a pain in the arse ,,)

i dont know how many donkies a 3230 is knocking out but it should be an ideal platform for a butterfly moco plenty of veiw, comfort accross ground, will yuo be having a front mower as well, i suppose you up the "pump" a bit
keep on top of the maint it be ideal, certainly more space in the cab than a JD and a far better ride.
 
Think Speedstar on here runs a Fastrac on a set of triple mowers.

We have a JCB 3220 on a 3 meter front & back mowing out fit goes very well, Had a demo of a set of triple mowers pulled them fine in light crops & on the flat on hills it was under powered to get the work rate we were looking for so stayed with a front & back out fit.
 
would the workrate not still have been higher with the triples, 2/3 of the idle time and the ability to push on in lighter crops?
 
We have a JCB 3220 on a 3 meter front & back mowing out fit goes very well, Had a demo of a set of triple mowers pulled them fine in light crops & on the flat on hills it was under powered to get the work rate we were looking for so stayed with a front & back out fit.

our crops would be very light, a bit heavier than good grazing, we do have a good few hills though, is there no gear that they could be set in to just move along at a steady pace say 7-8 mph?
 
our crops would be very light, a bit heavier than good grazing, we do have a good few hills though, is there no gear that they could be set in to just move along at a steady pace say 7-8 mph?

With the front & back mower at 10 to 15 kph 10 to 15 acres per hour & with the triples it was 6 to 10 kph 8 to 14 acres per hour , front & back 6 meters cut triples had 8500 meters & for the extra cost of the triples the sums did not stack up.if I had a 300hp tractor then a set of triple would be the way to go but the JCB 3220 is only 220hp & 209 hp at the shaft.
 
Back
Top