Featuring a new cab with lower noise levels, greater comfort and dramatically improved overhead visibility, JCB’s latest Series III Loadalls promises many improvements. But do these improvements actually make a difference? Simon Henley visits a dairy farm in omerset to find out.
Latest JCB handler brings improvements
T
he Quick family in Somerset is what you might describe as passionate dairy farmers. Gerald Quick and his three sons Chris, John and Tom run an indoor herd of 850 Fresian cows, on a farm which spans 485 hectares. Here they milk three times-aday which means there is always somebody working, and having
JCB 542-70 AGRISUPER SERIES III Z ● Engine: Four-cylinder,4.8-litre, JCB EcoMax ● Power: 145hp ● Torque: 560Nm at 1,500rpm ● Transmission: Autoshift sixspeed powershift ● Hydraulic output: 140 litres/minute ● a im m i t capacit 4,200kg ● a im m i t hei ht 7.01 metres
reliable equipment to feed, clean-out and bed the cows is absolutely essential. Back in the 1980s, Gerald was a JCB Loadall man, however his faith in the British manufacturer’s products dwindled after a succession of cracked boom issues. Disconcerted, Gerald switched his loyalty in the direction of anitou, specifically favouring the rear-engined ManiReach 626 and 628 models. His penchant for French telehandlers eventually subsided with the arrival of the EN15000 load movement monitor legislation, which in Gerald’s opinion compromised the lift performance of the Manitou handlers. A few years ago, at the suggestion of Rob Wall, who works for JCB dealer Smart Ag Services, Gerald decided to give the Uttoxeter manufacturer another try. “The difference in the lift
One of two JCB telehandlers employed by the Quick family, this Loadall 542-70 Series III spends up to five hours per day loading the diet feeder for the 850 cows.
6 Lamma 2020 p6, 8 JR BB SM.indd 1
Quick and Sons Farm’s JCB Loadall 542-70 AgriSuper Series III telehandler.
performance of the JCB was amazing,” says Gerald. “Having been used to the Manitou JSM palm grip joystick, the JCB design did take some adapting to, but since then we have never looked back.” The Quick family runs two telehandlers: a 2018 Loadall 541-70 Agri-Super and the latest 2019 Loadall 542-70 Agri-Super Series III. Every two years they replace the oldest of the two machines, which as Gerald explains will have generally clocked in the region of 3,500 hours by the time they trade it in.
Machine
He says: “The newest machine handles the lion’s share of the work, leaving the older machine on lighter duties. uring the first months, we would expect the new machine to clock 2,000 hours, while the older machine will do around 1,500.” In a typical day, the newer telehandler will spend between four and five hours loading the diet feeders used to feed the cows. The second machine will be on bedding detail, which is executed with a headstockmounted Spread-a-Bale dispenser. In between feeding and bedding duties, the handlers are used for tasks such as cleaning out livestock yards, transporting bales and silage and moving livestock, in addition to
Overhead vision in particular has ene te rom the intro ction o the curved windscreen in the Series III cab JOHN QUICK
supporting the arable side of this farming enterprise, which grows grass, maize and a moderate acreage of grain crops to be used on the farm for feed. “We always opt for the extended 4,000-hour warranty package, but we do not specify a service contract. We prefer to pay for service work as we go along. To be very honest, we have not had any major issues in terms of warranty repair,” says Gerald. “The most common problem e find is that the rear mudguard brackets are prone to breaking. “You can see them constantly vibrating,and eventually the metal
www.lammashow.com 10/12/2019 12:27
