The tractor in the film below is a Case IH STX 440 Quadtrac, from the STX range that Case IH introduced in 2000. It is a four-track articulated machine, the shape of Case’s biggest tractor since the Quadtrac of 1997.
Case 440 at a glance
| Machine in the film | Case IH STX 440 Quadtrac |
|---|---|
| Range | Case IH STX, launched in 2000 |
| Running gear | four rubber track units instead of wheels |
| Layout | articulated four-wheel-drive tractor |
| Quadtrac origin | the first Case IH Quadtrac was launched in 1997 |
| Maker’s background | Steiger, bought by Case IH in 1986, built its big four-wheel-drive tractors |
| Filmed | ploughing in the Marne, France, in 2012, with a 13-furrow plough |
| Engine and output | not stated in the sources used here |
The film gives the model; the sources give the range, the layout and the dates. No engine figures are stated because the sources do not give them.
History of the Case 440
Quadtrac
Case IH launched the Quadtrac in 1997 as a four-wheel-drive tractor on four rubber track units rather than four wheels. Tracks spread the weight of a very heavy machine over a longer footprint, which is why the biggest Case tractors have used them since.
The STX range
The STX range followed in 2000, and the 440 belongs to it. It is an articulated machine, steered in the middle between two halves rather than by turning the front axle, which is the usual arrangement for tractors of this size. The Quadtrac version carries a track unit at each corner.
Working tractors
The film shows an STX 440 ploughing in the Marne department of France in 2012, pulling a 13-furrow plough. Tractors of this class exist for exactly that kind of work: moving very wide implements through heavy soil at a steady pace.
Design and features
- Four tracks: the Quadtrac layout replaces wheels with rubber track units at each corner.
- Articulated steering: the machine bends in the middle, the standard arrangement for the largest tractors.
- STX range of 2000: the 440 is one of the models of Case IH’s STX generation.
- Still at work: the example filmed in 2012 was a working farm tractor, not a show exhibit.
Case 440 versions
- STX 440 Quadtrac: the tracked version shown in the film.
- STX on wheels: the same range was also sold with four wheels.
- Earlier Quadtrac (1997): the first four-track Case IH tractor.
- Later four-track models: the line continued with the Quadtrac models built today.
The first of the line is described on the Case 2670 page, and the modern tractors on the Case IH Magnum page. More machines are in the Case section.
Video: Case IH Quadtrac STX 440 ploughing in the Marne
Video by AgriculturePassion51 on YouTube.
Sources
- Case IH, English Wikipedia: STX range of 2000, Quadtrac 1997, Steiger
- Case Corporation, English Wikipedia: company history
