There was a time where the bull (the animal and not a Lamborghini) was possibly the most valuable asset an average rural family in India owned. Connoisseurs of Indian theatre would be familiar with a particular legendary scene from the movie ‘Mother India’ where Nargis is forced to plough her field by hand after a ruthless moneylender takes away their cattle due to an inability to pay a loan. Even today, agriculture and its related industries are integral to our country’s growth and well being.
By now, you are probably wondering why am I talking about farming on what is essentially an automotive portal. That’s because I have just experienced one of most important of farmer tools, a tractor And no the plan wasn’t to imitate Mr. Yo Yo Honey Singh and perform donuts in a tractor while humming ‘Isey kehtey hai Hip Hop Hip Hop’. The idea was a lot more straight forward.
Here I have is a red, gleaming machine complete with pinstripes, a front-mid mounted engine and rear wheel drive. Essentially, it is just like a Ferrari F12 apart from in every single detail. As I acquainted myself with the new Mahindra Arjun Novo 650 DI-PS (needs a catchier name for sure) I found out how easy it was to get it going. In fact, anyone who can drive a car could easily drive this.
There is a steering wheel, a clutch pedal on the left, a large brake pedal on the right and a rather uncomfortably placed accelerator pedal. And although tractors of the past had gear shift levers below the steering column for ages, the Arjun Novo 650 DI-PS has it in its traditional position next to the driver. In fact, we suspect since Mahindra is one of the biggest tractor sellers in the United States the gear shift lever is on the right of the driver and not on the left to suit people who are used to left hand drive cars more.
And then there is another lever on the left that lets you select between a low range, high range and a standard ratio transfer box. And another lever on the right that lets you work the hydraulic arms that have been mounted on the back. These hydraulic arms are what you would normally attach the rotary plough or other mechanised farming equipment to.
There is even a standard turnkey starter, although to switch it off you do have to pull on a cable for a few seconds that in turn cuts fuel to the engine. The engine itself is 3.5-litre diesel mill that has essentially seen duty for a few decades now in different states of tune and undergone a constant improvement through the years. The engine makes 52PS of peak power and propels the tractor to a top speed of a staggering 32kmph. And of course, being an auto journalist, we felt compelled to test the facts and figures and push the tractor to its top speed.
The tractor is surprisingly comfortable and easy to use too. With a spring-loaded seat, there are but a few roads that will make you feel uncomfortable. The version we drove, the Arjun Novo 650 DI-PS comes with power steering. In fact, this is probably the most responsive power steering unit I have ever driven. Combined with a light clutch and very responsive brakes, the only real issue is the slightly awkwardly placed throttle pedal. That said, most tractors usually do speeds in the single digits and once you do get used to the positioning of the pedals, driving one seems to be a walk in the park.
The first thing that really comes to mind when you say the word tractor are the huge tyres. The cross cut tyres with the help of low range gear ratios can just about get through any sort of terrain without batting an eyelid. In fact, most tractors do not require all-wheel-drive due to their uncanny ability to get out of tight spots. the front tyres though are of course much smaller to help with manoeuvrability. And talking about manoeuvrability, the Mahindra Arjun Novo 650 DI-PS probably has a turning radius that can put the likes of the Tata Nano to shame. Another unique tractor feature is the individual rear wheel brakes that the driver can choose to apply by disengaging a lever on the brake pedal.
But what if you are a modern farmer who likes eating out as much as he likes growing his own food? Well, we put the Mahindra Arjun Novo 650 DI-PS to a real world test to see how it would fare. Driving down the road, we saw the famous McDonalds golden arches at a distance and couldn’t resist taking the tractor through the drive through. As expected shocked and startled faces did greet us at first, followed by the staff unable to comprehend why someone with a tractor would drive through McDonalds. They did however serve us the order and even stepped out to take a picture of us in the drive through lane. All in all, the tractor not only performed well in the restricted space, the lack of a roof or windows made it incredibly easy to pick our food up.
As expected, the Mahindra Arjun Novo 650 DI-PS is as versatile as a farm machine can get. It can plough fields day in and day out, drive over some really tricky terrain without breaking a sweat, travel distances on the road at a relatively relaxed pace and all of this while returning decent fuel economy figures which incidentally is not measured in kilometers per litre but litres per hour. As per a local farmer we met, fuel economy for his Mahindra Arjun Novo 650 is about 2.5-3kmpl, which considering the grind they go through is pretty respectable.
All in all, it is the little things in life that give you the most joy and although a tractor is a device that came about due to necessity, it did end up being a really fun experience driving one. With Mahindra developing a whole range of future tractors with more advanced hydraulics and even an air conditioned cabin, we are certainly looking forward to more days in the open field with a tractor beneath us and the sun shining down on us. Only, there will be no fields, just tarmac, traffic and a McDonalds.