28 September, 2010
Rossmoya dairy farmers "living" in new telehandler
Ray and Ailsa Clews and their sons,
Aaron and Michael, milk approximately 250 Jersey, Brown
Swiss cross and straight Brown Swiss cows on their 365
hectare ‘Slatewood’ property near Rossmoya, which is located
about 40 kilometres north of Rockhampton in
Aaron said they invested in a JCB
telehandler through Mike Moy at JCB Conag Equipment at
“The tractor and loader only did loader work. We didn’t need it as a tractor,’’ Aaron said.
“We make all our own silage and the loader was pushing it up in the pit, but it wasn’t keeping up.
“We needed more horsepower and the JCB has provided that plus a lot more benefits.
“We have only had it for 10 to 11 weeks
and we have already done 300 hours. We seem to be living in
it at the moment.
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Mike Moy, of JCB Conag Equipment at |
“We are doing more and more jobs that we may have previously got a contractor to do.
“We can also get into tight spaces in our sheds.’’
The Clews selected the 130hp JCB 531-70 Agri ‘Super’ telehandler from JCB Conag with a standard bucket and pallet forks plus a three cubic metre material bucket.
The 531-70 offers a 7m lift height combined with 3.1 tonne capacity.
It features the 4.4 litre turbocharged JCB Dieselmax power plant. The drivetrain provides low fuel consumption with low noise and high power and torque, especially at low revs, giving the power to perform rigorous loading and lifting work at low engine speeds. The engine drives through a 6-speed transmission with Torque Lock, giving a maximum speed of 40 kilometres per hour.
“The JCB has provided more horsepower
and weight to clean things up easier,’’ Aaron said
“It picks up about one tonne of silage in the bucket and over a tonne of grain. The bucket itself weighs about three quarters of a tonne.
“It loads the mixer wagon up to three to four times a day and it loads quicker
“We also have a couple of little blocks a few kilometres away, so the high speed is very good.’’
He said he particularly liked the boom suspension with the JCB telehandler.
“I wouldn’t drive anything now without boom suspension. It takes the jarring out of everything. Because it is so smooth, you also don’t realise how quick you are going until you look down at the ground.’’
New transmission control features with the JCB Agri telehandlers include a forward-neutral-reverse selector on the leading face of the boom control joystick, allowing drivers to keep a firm left-hand grip on the steering wheel at all times, which Aaron said was a bonus.
He said the machine’s reversing fan was another appealing feature, especially for during the hay season.
The Clews also like the ‘autoselect’ steering, allowing changes between four-wheel, two-wheel and crab steer at the flick of a switch, without manual realignment of the wheels.
A new 140 litre per minute Variflo pump with the latest JCB telehandlers now provides even faster loader cycle times. The variable displacement pump only supplies oil to the services on demand so oil is not continuously pumped around the system, helping reduce fuel consumption and hydraulic oil temperature.
Aaron said compared to their tractor,
the cycle times with the JCB were very good.
The JCB Conag dealership at
The business also has a wide range of used equipment backed up by full product support from its modern service and sales facility, stocking the full range of genuine JCB parts and attachments.
The dealership covers an area stretching south to Bundaberg, north to St Lawrence and west to Emerald.
Media information: Karen McKenzie, Group Marketing Manager, CFC Group, on (03) 9797 3441.