New Holland’s L-series history lasted under three years, because already in the autumn of 1998 it was replaced by the TL-series. The tractors no longer bore the Ford or Fiatagri names, but depending on the market they were offered in blue and/or terracotta. In Finland only the blue versions were sold, all of which came with DeLuxe hydraulic valves featuring pressure-return, float and flow-control functions. Mechanically, however, the tractor remained very close to Fiatagri’s 90 and 94 series. The TL series went on to become the most popular tractor line in its power class in Europe.

Visibility had been improved—not only by the sloping bonnet but also by routing the exhaust pipe up into the cab pillar. The cab doors were now all-glass. The instrument cluster dropped its Fiat-style layout, but features such as the gear levers and the “klik-klak” quick-lift control on the three-point hitch were very familiar to drivers of the old Fiats. The PTO clutch, formerly a long mechanical lever, was now electro-hydraulically actuated. A three-speed PTO became standard on all models in Finland.

Model numbers were bumped up by five steps, though DIN horsepower ratings stayed the same, and the torque-increase claims for the Iveco engines were revised down to more realistic figures. The old-school turbocharged “rev engine” was clearly different from the modern tractor engines that New Holland used in its larger series. The transmission options, as in the L-series, were either a 20+12 gearbox with creeper gears or a 24+12 powershift gearbox. Both featured a mechanical forward-reverse shuttle lever on the driver’s left. The range shift was unsynchronized.

In Finland, hydraulic flow was rated at 60 l/min starting with the TL 80. The lineup also included 34.5 l/min and 44.5 l/min pumps, plus—new for this series—a closed-center hydraulics option. Except on the TL 80, the three-point hitch had an auxiliary cylinder, giving it a lift capacity of 4,450 kg. A powered hitch was available as an extra. For forestry use, Finnish tractors were fitted with, among other things, an expanded rear footwell.

In 2000, New Holland introduced models where the mechanical shuttle was replaced by a hydraulic one, making the shuttle function a hydraulic multi-disc system. The new gearbox was 24+24, so the powershift could also be used in reverse. Case IH’s equivalent range to New Holland’s TL was called the JXU Maxxima.

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