The Landini Rex is the company’s specialist tractor for orchards and vineyards, a segment the Fabbrico firm entered in 1982 and in which, according to its company history, it holds about 35 per cent of the world market. These are narrow, low machines built to work between rows, as the Rex 85F and 75F in the photographs show.
Landini Rex at a glance
| Maker | Landini, Fabbrico, Emilia-Romagna |
|---|---|
| Type | specialist tractor for orchards and vineyards |
| Segment entered | 1982, with the first Landini orchard tractor |
| Market share | about 35 per cent of the world market |
| Series added in 1986 | Vigneto |
| Models in the photographs | Rex 85F and Rex 75F |
| Suffix F | orchard version of the Rex |
| Supplier role | Fabbrico became Massey Ferguson’s exclusive supplier of specialist tractors, wheeled and tracked |
| Plant output in 1988 | 13,000 tractors sold |
No Wikipedia article covers the Rex itself. This page uses the Italian and French company histories for the specialist segment and the model names visible on the photographed tractors.
History of the Landini Rex
1982: a new segment
Landini had built general-purpose tractors, crawlers and big machines, but it came to specialist orchard tractors only in 1982, when it began production of models designed for fruit growing. The move was a success: in that segment of the market the company holds, to this day, the leadership with about 35 per cent of the world share, and in 1986 it added the Vigneto series for vineyards. Together the two lines made the Fabbrico plant the exclusive supplier of specialist tractors, both wheeled and tracked, for the Massey Ferguson brand as well.
Working between the rows
An orchard tractor is not a smaller version of a field tractor. It has to pass down narrow alleys between trees and vines, turn at the end of a row and keep a low centre of gravity, so the machines are compact and their layout differs from that of a general-purpose tractor. The Rex models in the photographs carry the F suffix used for the orchard versions, and the tractor in the video was filmed at Enovitis, a trade fair for vineyard equipment, alongside other specialist machines.
The Rex in the Landini range
The specialist models sit beside the company’s other families: the utility tractors, the crawler range and the medium and large field tractors. The success of the specialist line came in the same years in which Landini returned to independence from Massey Ferguson in 1989 and joined the Argo group in 1994, and it remained one of the firm’s strongest positions in the market.
Design and features
- Built for orchards and vineyards: compact machines designed to work between rows rather than in open fields.
- A market leader: about 35 per cent of the world market in specialist tractors, according to the company history.
- Two specialist lines: orchard models from 1982 and the Vigneto series for vineyards from 1986.
- Supplier to Massey Ferguson: the Fabbrico plant built specialist tractors for the American brand as well.
Landini Rex versions
- Rex 85F: an orchard model of the range, shown in the photographs.
- Rex 75F: a smaller orchard model of the same family.
- Vigneto series of 1986: the vineyard line that completed the specialist programme.
- Tracked specialist tractors: the same programme also covered crawler versions for orchards and vineyards.
The specialist Rex complements the field and utility tractors such as the PowerFarm and the crawler Trekker, while the 1988 range is described with the 8860. More Landini machines are in the Landini collection.
Video: Landini Rex at Enovitis in campo 2014
Video on YouTube.
Sources
- Landini (azienda), Italian Wikipedia: orchard tractors from 1982, 35 per cent share, Vigneto series, Massey Ferguson supply
- Landini, French Wikipedia: first specialist orchard tractor, market share, later range
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