A dependable engine, solid transmissions and keen pricing have made New Holland’s T7.210 one of the most popular six-cylinder workhorses on the market.

It might not be the most powerful T7, but as the gutsiest “standard” wheelbase model available with a fully mechanical transmission, it offers perhaps the broadest appeal.

Driving force is provided by a 6.7-litre FPT that puts out a max power of 180hp, with a healthy amount of boost helping it reach the 210hp advertised on the bonnet for transport duties and pto work.

See also: Driver’s view: New Holland T5.140 Dynamic Command

Thanks to a trio of transmissions and wide range of specifications buyers have plenty of scope for tailoring the spec, from simple and lever based, to complex and button laden.

When it came to buying a 2018 T7.210, Carmarthenshire dairy farmers and contractors Tony, Ceredig, Ceirwyn, and Eirina Sisto opted for the former.

As a result, their ex-hire model features manual spool valves, does without a front linkage and has the simplest Range Command semi-powershift transmission.

For the past six years it’s been mucking in on a wide range of tasks, both on their own farms – which support 350 dairy cows plus followers – and their extensive contracting work.

Tony and Ceredig Sisto © James Andrews

Why a New Holland T7.210?

We run 14 tractors in total from 105hp to 315hp and it’s so much simpler if we deal with one brand and one dealer.

For decades that brand has been New Holland and the dealer T Alun Jones. You can’t fault the level of service we get and the tractors have always been good to us, so we’ve had no reason to change.

Most of our machines are T7s of one type or another and the 210 is a particular favourite as it’s simple, powerful and not too big.

Cab is a little dated but perfectly functional © James Andrews

The long-wheelbase and HD tractors might trump them for cultivation work and pulling large tankers, but they’re clumsy in comparison and awkward on some of the small farms we go to.

Of our three T7s, this one is on the highest hour count, at 8,500.

Usually, we buy new with a standard 3,000-hour warranty and run them up to 10,000 hours or so before changing – depending on cashflow and what sort of deal we’re offered.

But this was an ex-hire machine on 900 hours that came in a good bit cheaper than brand-new. T Alun Jones had it in stock when we needed another tractor, so it was an easy decision.

What extras did you opt for?

One of the things we like about the 210 is that you can have it in a basic spec with manual spool valves and a no-frills, mechanical transmission.

Most of the work we give these tractors is simple stuff – pulling trailers and tankers, cultivating and pumping slurry – so we don’t like to waste money on expensive extras.

However, there are a couple of small things we add that do make a difference to longevity and running costs.

Bonnet mesh and wheel rims are starting to rust © James Andrews

Most important of these is the exhaust brake, which means we rarely need to use the regular brakes. We’ve got plenty of hills around here, so without this they would get a real hammering.

As a precaution, we checked the condition of the discs at 6,000 hours and there was still loads of life left in them, so it’s been doing its job.

Another addition that we put on all our tractors is stainless steel mirror guards. These do a great job of deflecting branches and have saved us a fortune on replacement lenses and brackets.

How has it performed?

It’s hard to fault its performance as it gets the job done with minimal fuss and bother.

The FPT engine is one of the highlights, offering plenty of power and excellent reliability – we’ve put tens of thousands of hours on them across all our tractors and they’ve never given any trouble.

We’re not ones for chipping or remapping, so the 210 is running at the regular 180hp and 210hp with boost, which is ample for most of the work we do with it.

Pricey Nokian tyres have proved a flop © James Andrews

When it’s pushed hard, it does drink quite a lot of AdBlue, but top-ups are fairly infrequent on lighter duties. We know these systems can give problems but, thankfully, they’ve never played up much for us.

The semi-powershift Range Command transmission is solid too, but it’s not as nice to use as the Power Command full powershift we’ve got in some of our T7s.

We’ve also got one Auto Command CVT on our T7.315, which is well suited to a machine of that size and helps make the most of the power.

But it’s not really necessary on the smaller models and would only push the price up.

Breakdowns on the 210 have been few and far between, with just the odd solenoid and sensor needing to be replaced.

What could be improved?

The quality of some of the paint is the biggest area for improvement. It is particularly poor on the wheel rims, which developed rust spots after a couple of years.

Some sections of bonnet mesh have gone rusty too and it seems to chip off the back end fairly easily.

As for the cab, this was pretty smart when these tractors first came out, but the interior is a bit dated these days.

We’ve got the revamped version on our T7.245 and it is a big upgrade. The controls are nicer to use and it’s incredibly quiet.

So much so that we sometimes open the back window to hear if the implement is running.

The glass also drops down lower at the rear, which improves visibility.

Stainless-steel mirror guards save a fortune on replacement lenses © James Andrews

One feature we wish this particular model had is a 1000e pto speed.

We’ve got it on one of the other 210s and it reduces fuel use by a third when pumping slurry as the revs can be dropped from 1,700rpm to 1,100rpm.

Although nothing to do with the tractor itself, the Nokian Ground King tyres we put on it have been a real flop.

At £8,000 for a set, they were about double the price of BKTs, but we were assured they would last at least twice as long.

They’ve been on for three years/4,000 hours so far and they’re not wearing well. There is tread left, but the blocks have worn so unevenly that they vibrate horribly on the road.

We’ll definitely be going back to regular tractor treads next time.

How long are you going to keep it?

We’ll be keeping it until it does at least 10,000 hours and it could go as high as 14,000; it all depends on what the deals are and how well it keeps performing.

When the time comes, there’s a good chance it will be replaced by another 210. Jumping to a 225 would give us a bit more power, but this is Auto Command only, so would be a bit of a step up in cost and sophistication.

In some ways it would be nice to have another large wheelbase model as they’ve got a bit more stability for our big trailers and tankers. But we’d definitely miss the compact proportions.