This tractor (main picture) was spotted recently at an overseas trade fair – the Chinese ‘International Agricultural Machinery Exhibition’. It was posted on Facebook by Dautel Landtechnik.
The tractor, along with other similar units on the same stand, is built in China. It bears more than a passing resemblance to some current Fendt models. The cab is admittedly very different, but the bonnet (hood) bears a striking similarity.
The best way to see this is to simply compare pictures of each tractor; the first picture (below) shows the Chinese-built tractor. The second picture shows a current 500 Vario Series tractor from the Bavarian manufacturer.
The Chinese tractor is actually manufactured by a company called Ensign. But who or what is Ensign?
Ensign Heavy Industries, as it’s officially known, is headquartered in Weifang city of Shandong Province; it is known as a large-scale machinery manufacturer.
Thus far, the entity has three main business divisions – producing construction machinery, agricultural equipment and, last but not least, lubricating oil for machinery.
Ensign Heavy Industries claims to have one of the most advanced technological R&D centres in the country.
The company is especially well known in China for its wheel loaders, excavators, forklifts and reasonably “large-scale” construction equipment. In fact, its main products are loading shovels – of which there are five separate ranges and over 100 different configurations.
All the loaders have passed the testing and certification requirements of the so-called China National Construction Machinery Quality Supervision Testing Center, as well as CE and EAC certification.
The company says that it has developed, or is in the process of developing, tractors from 25hp to 300hp.
Ensign Heavy Industries was founded in 2011, when the construction machinery industry was in, what the company describes as, a “sluggish growth period”. However, it says that it is building on China’s collective half century of experience in the loading shovel business.
Now, it plans to build a major brand-name in the world of agricultural tractors.
