Something that got lost amidst the excitement surrounding updates to John Deere’s 6R Series tractors, quite some time ago, was an upgrade to its 6M line-up – concerning the transmission.
It went largely unnoticed at the time, but John Deere added a CommandQuad Plus transmission, allowing ‘robotised’ range-changes.
Since the early 1990s, when the original 6000 and 7000 Series ‘full-frame’ John Deere tractors arrived on the scene, drivers have had to grapple with a lever – to change between ranges (i.e. A, B, C, D and E – if your tractor had an ‘E’). Initially, powershifts were changed via a separate lever. This was the original PowerQuad box – a competent and solid offering.
With passing years, the powershift controller morphed into buttons and gained a mind of its own (automation – in other words). This heralded the arrival of AutoQuad. However, drivers still had to physically shift a lever to swap between ranges – at a time when other manufacturers offered robotised range-changes (i.e. New Holland’s Range Command or Massey Ferguson’s Dyna-6).
Of course, John Deere did introduce AutoPowr (a scarily-fancy CVT transmission) and, in more recent years, DirectDrive. The latter is an innovative, fast-shifting gearbox that employs a double-clutch system – much like (conceptually at least) that found in a DSG gearbox in some Volkswagen cars.
But, for those buyers who didn’t want the complexity of AutoPowr or DirectDrive, the long-serving PowerQuad and AutoQuad boxes were seen as the sensible, no-nonsense options. But even the most ardent, ‘green-blooded’ Deere fanatics might secretly have wished for a robotised range-change on these units – even if they would never have openly admitted this.
That’s what prompted John Deere to launch CommandQuad Plus. It is an option on all 6M Series tractors – and it has actually been about for almost two years.
This 6130M tractor is equipped with CommandQuad Plus
Like the earlier gearboxes on which it is based, the transmission is equipped with 20 forward and 20 reverse (20F/20R) speeds for the top three models (24F/24R for the 4-cylinder models), a left-hand reverser, and four powershift gears in five fully-synchronised ranges (six ranges for the less powerful models).
It can be operated in either manual or automatic mode. Operators can pre-program two sets of start-up gears, which can be toggled between – using a rocker switch.
In addition, a thumb-roller (which is embedded into the miniature control lever) can be used to set a target speed, which the tractor will try and achieve with the least amount of engine revs possible. Engine ‘drop’ level can also be set, which prompts the transmission to change down at the desired point.
Of course, the biggest physical departure from previous AutoQuad and PowerQuad offerings is the absence of the big, long range-change lever – though there is still a lever for engaging ‘park‘.
Alas, ironically, there hasn’t been much uptake for this gearbox option as yet here in Ireland. With so much choice, Deere buyers now seem content to jump from AutoQuad to DirectDrive – seamlessly passing over the previous ‘gap’ in the middle (in much the same way as CommandQuad promises to jump over its ‘gaps’).
