New Holland is the winner of the 2024 ABX Award

New Holland was the big winner of the ABX (Automotive Business) 2024 Award in the “Collaborative Innovation” category with the TL5 Accessible, the world’s first accessible agricultural tractor produced by an automaker. The award ceremony, which took place on September 30 in São Paulo (SP), highlighted projects with high potential for positive impact, with an innovative proposal and capable of delivering new value to the automotive industry, mobility and society.

“It is with great honor and pride that we receive this award. People with reduced mobility in their lower limbs, including those who live and work in the countryside, want to have autonomy to be able to carry out their activities on their own. And the Accessible TL5 meets the main premise of inclusion, which is to enable people to exercise their numerous skills and abilities, eliminating barriers that currently prevent many farmers from accessing the operator's position of a machine”, he says. Eduardo Kerbauy (pictured above), New Holland vice president for Latin America.

First presented as a concept tractor at the Show Rural Coopavel and Expodireto Cotrijal in 2020, where it was a huge success with the public and the press, the project began to be developed in 2019 by New Holland, which reached the final product in partnership with the inclusive mobility company Elevittá and Senai – Rio Grande do Sul. The tractor is currently commercially available in Brazil.

Customers were fundamental in the development of the product

As a brand that cares about improving the customer experience, this accessible tractor was created from a real need of many farmers, who were instrumental in achieving the final product, focusing on operator safety. The development of the Accessible TL5 even included the participation of a New Holland customer, who is a wheelchair user.

Developed from the TL5 tractor line, with over 20 years of reliability in the market, the Accessible TL5 is available in 80, 90 and 100 hp versions, very versatile and robust, aimed at small, medium and large producers. It can be used in the main tasks within the rural property, such as soil preparation, planting, limestone distribution, harvesting on small farms, silage, mowing, spraying, fertilizer distribution, front loader and general services.

In addition to the new machines, tractors from the TL5 line produced from 2019 onwards can also be adapted to receive the accessibility platform, expanding the possibilities for the brand's customers.

Leadership

According to Márcio Contreras, Commercial Marketing Director at New Holland, the Accessible TL5 was designed to provide equal working conditions for everyone in the field, offering comfort, safety and performance. “It is equipped with a lifting platform and a joystick, with which the operator controls the movements necessary to embark/disembark, having access to the operator's seat and machine controls, which were adapted to facilitate operations, maintaining internal space and excellent ergonomics. In addition, this is a tractor that can be used in its original manufacturing form, that is, it can also be operated by people without reduced mobility”, he explains.

The TL5 tractor family, in turn, is versatile and perfect for everyday multitasking. The line has three different types of transmission, versions with Power Shuttle reverser and several tire configuration options. In addition, it comes equipped with a 8000-cylinder FPT S4 MAR I engine, with excellent torque and power, which provides much more strength with the lowest operating cost on the market. The Accessible TL5 is available in the version without a cabin and with a 12x12 transmission with hydraulic reverser.

In addition, a telemetry solution is under development for TL5 family tractors, both with cabins and platforms. With this solution, customers will be able to check machine information in the agricultural management application, FieldOps.

In this technological package, farmers will have access to features such as viewing location history, i.e., it is possible to see the trail of one or more machines within a 24-hour period. It will also be possible to customize notifications and receive them via SMS, such as when the field limit is exceeded or parameters are not in compliance, such as exceeding the determined speed. Other information, such as the status of the operation, i.e., the time the machine was actually operating, can also be checked by farmers.