Power and versatility at ordinary tractor money
Although the Xerion story begins in the late 90s, sales in the UK only really started to gather momentum in around 2004 when Claas introduced the nominal 335hp Xerion 3300, with the 379hp Xerion 3800 that arrived in 2007 going on to be a decent seller that is now in strong demand as a pre-owned buy.
A key line-up change came in 2009 with the introduction of the 483hp Xerion 4500 and 524hp Xerion 5000, the latter pushing the boundaries for a stepless transmission to this power and size of tractor for the first time. For the 2014 season, the 435hp Xerion 4000 arrived to oust both the 3300 and 3800 from the range. In 2020 the Xerion 4000 was itself replaced by the 462hp Xerion 4200.
As a potential used buyer will know, Claas offered the Xerion as a ‘standard Trac model’ with a fixed position, mid-mounted Vista cab or the Trac VC with a cab that pivots through 180° to enable the tractor to be used in forward or reverse drive. For specialist mounted kit, the third choice was the Saddle Trac with a fixed position cab, located over the bonnet to create a larger load area for the likes of a slurry tank.
As an outline, this simplifies what has been the steadily evolving tractor range. As the Xerion has developed, so too have the specification choices. With a Xerion 3800 most will have much the same outline spec with either a fixed or reversible cab. That is not the case with the 4000 and 5000 series. What follows is a bit more development detail, skipping the very early, thin on the ground models, and moving straight to the ‘3000’ series.
Claas Xerion 3300
All Xerion 3300 models are powered by a six-cylinder Caterpillar C9, 8.8 litre engine. Rated power is in the order of 335hp, with a maximum torque of 1,450Nm. Drive to the four equal sized wheels is transmitted from a ZF CVT Eccom 3.5 transmission, this delivering a maximum forward
