Fastrac transforms into all-rounder following remap
24th November 2025
One Essex farmer has turned to professional engine remapping to improve the all-round performance of his JCB Fastrac, shares Avon Tuning.
Haulage is a large part of the workload for Ben Fisher and his team, who run a diversified arable farm in Southminster, Essex.
Along with hauling crops from the combines at harvest, there’s carting of manures and poultry litter to field pads from a nearby chicken farm and moving various materials for construction projects throughout the year.
For this work, Ben has used Fastracs for several decades. The first one was purchased by his father and Ben, who is the third generation on the farm, has stayed true to the brand for the superior road performance.
He explains: “There’s not a tractor on the market that can match the Fastrac for road comfort, visibility and speed. They suit the work perfectly, which is why we have three in our fleet to keep us going when we’re busy. Our land is spread out so we do spend a lot of time on the road.”
DJ Fisher Farms is a 1,100ha operation, of which about 730ha is arable cropping. Ben’s latest JCB Fastrac, an 18 plate 4220, was struggling hauling loaded trailers up some of the steeper hills around the farm, while pulling away fully loaded from the combine was also a sluggish affair.
Attention to detail
During a visit to Cereals 2025, Ben headed to the Avon Tuning HD stand to speak to the team about options for the 4220 to improve overall performance.
“Our older Fastrac 3220 had been tweaked several years ago and we’ve never had an issue with it. The improvement to everyday operation is vast so we were keen to do similar with the new model,” says Ben.
The Avon Tuning HD team arrived on farm just as harvest began to fit the map and health-checked the tractor to ensure it could handle the power increase. Ben says the attention to detail was brilliant.
“We were combining at the time so had to leave them to it, but the service was excellent, and they ended up staying a bit longer due to an unforeseen issue they wanted to clear before applying the remap. They were professional and ensured the map was working correctly before leaving.”
Part of this is down to Avon Tuning HD, and its approved agents, having the knowledge and capability to modify the gearbox parameters on the ML 180 CVT transmission to allow full, unrestricted engine torque to be delivered to the wheels when it’s required by the tractor.
Difference
Following the remap, the Fastrac was straight back to work carting grain back to the stores with an 18t trailer. The feedback from the operator was immediate.
“It was one of those additions we weren’t sure if it would make a noticeable difference, but the improvements were obvious. We used to struggle up hills but now have a lot more torque in the right place and the tractor holds on for much longer and maintains a constant speed.”
From a safety perspective, Ben says this has made a big difference, as negotiating hills without slowing to a crawl means cars are less likely to overtake in dangerous places.
It’s also noticeable when pulling away from the combine loaded and has improved turnaround times returning to the field. This has improved harvest efficiency and means the combine is less likely to be stood still.
“When the 4220 pulls away after being loaded by the combine, there’s no scratching to get grip. The extra low-down torque means the engine can use all its power in the right way. Pulling away is now much quicker, whereas before it used to really struggle to get up to speed.”
All-rounder
Despite having dedicated field tractors, including a Case Quadtrac 620 and a John Deere 8370 RT, the need to pull a Simba Flatliner twin leg subsoiler to remove tramline wheelings is a job shared between the pair of Fastracs and a John Deere 6215 R.
However, Ben says the job was one that usually landed in the lap of the JD, due to the Fastrac struggling for grip when asked.
One of Ben’s hopes following the remapping was to make it more of an all-rounder to take on some of the field tasks, as well as the regular haulage.
“Before the remap, the Fastrac 4220 used to scratch around for grip with the subsoiler and wasn’t very effective. So much so that we didn’t use it on this job and kept it exclusively on haulage tasks. However, we’ve noticed big improvements in the field, it can handle the subsoiler more effectively and has the torque where it’s required.”
Ben concludes: “This extra performance has made the tractor a lot more versatile to fit in with our diversified workload. The professional service we’ve received from Avon and the reliability of the tractor means I would be straight on the phone to Avon again should I need another tractor remapped.”
Visit Avon Tuning at LAMMA 2026: Hall 7, stand 600.
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