ATLANTA – The Massey Ferguson 8280 plowed through the world plowing record by plowing 620.899 acres of French fields in 24 hours.
At 23.056 acres per hour the 387-horsepower Massey Ferguson 8280 outdid the previous record holder, a 425-horsepower Case IH Quadrac, by nearly 4 acres per hour
The 8280 plowed faster and even a little deeper than the previous record holder and did so with less horsepower, said Rene Boivin, general marketing manager of the Massey Ferguson 8200 series.
Much of the credit for the record-breaking run goes to an outstanding engine and transmission, according to Massey Ferguson. The key to success was the integrated control system that made it possible for the operator to utilize every available horsepower to its maximum potential.
The record-breaking effort was made on a 1,760-acre vegetable farm near the village of Sanguinet Bordeau in southwest France and monitored by official judges from the Guinness Book of Records.
Plowing started at 1 p.m. March 26 and ended at 1 p.m. March 27.
Equipment. The 8280 was equipped with Gregoire Besson plows, a front-mounted four-furrow unit and a 13-furrow semi-mounted unit on the rear.
The dark, sandy loam soil had been planted to carrots the previous year. After harvest, a single pass with a field cultivator had repaired the deep ruts left by the harvest process
To eliminate headland turns, fields were plowed in a spiral from the outside to the inside. Even refueling was completed on the go. The only time the plows weren’t in the ground and moving was when shifting from one field to the next.