For the first time, a Claas tractor will feature a 24 valve 8.7 litre Cursor 9 engine from FPT. With the new 900 tractor, Claas joins AGCO and CNH in using selective catalytic reduction (SCR) to meet emissions regulations.

German farm equipment maker, Claas, says it’s moving away from John Deere Power Systems as an engine supplier to Fiat Powertrain Technologies (FPT). This means the new Claas Axion 900 series tractor will feature engines that use SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) technology to meet Tier 4 emission targets.

As Germany’s largest farm equipment manufacturer, a published report from Europe calls the Claas decision “significant.”

FPT of Italy supplies the engines for Case IH and New Holland equipment. Both CNH brands as well as AGCO are committed to SCR engines to meet increasingly stringent emission regulations required of off-road machinery in Europe and North America.

The additional fluid required by SCR engines is called Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) in North America, and in Europe it’s called AdBlue. According to the published report, “The Italian engine manufacturer has used SCR (AdBlue) as a means of meeting Tier 4 emission regulations instead of the EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) route that Deere has adopted. It means that the new Claas series will have to use AdBlue liquid as a means of emission control. But since Claas does not manufacture engines, its choice of engine and emission system is significant for SCR/AdBlue advocates.”