Tractor, harvester IT comes of age
Over the last halfdecade, digital technology has appeared to be the “must-have” for tractor and machinery companies, who believe that bringing IT to tractors and farming will offer its customers huge benefits.
Following its longheld tradition of only using fine-grain steels for strength, stability and torsional rigidity, loader booms are constructed from a single piece of steel, cleverly folded to create the required section, that in turn creates a void to house any levelling mechanisms within. The design is said to offer excellent forward visibility, with no structures above the top line of the boom. All hydraulic pipes are mounted on the underside, that in turn allows mounting brackets to be placed nearer to the tractor, resulting in greater lift capacity.
Featuring Stoll’s Drive-in System, the FS standard and FZ selflevelling versions offer easy mounting and dismounting of the loader at around two minutes, with the self-locking pins no doubt making the task easier.
Designed for tractors from 50 to 300hp, attention to detail sees the lower boom cross member mounted low and forward to improve visibility, while improved crowd/dump angles of 40 to 46 degrees at ground level and up to 63 degrees during lifting, ensure any loose materials are not spilled from buckets.
A range of joysticks include the Base mechanical option offering five functions, the fully electric Pro Control, with six features and the increasingly popular Trac Control that integrates with the tractor’s own proportional control units.
Depending on model and configuration, a range of features include return to dig, return to parallel, working height restriction, weighing and a comfort driven damping system using oil or hydrogen accumulators. Meanwhile, further options include, Hydro Fix for single lever main hydraulic functions, Tool Fix for 3rd and 4th functions and Hydro Lock for implement locking and unlocking from the tractor seat.
Distributed by Hamilton- based Ag Attachments, general manager Martin Gray says, “Customers will see extra strength throughout the loaders, starting with bigger dimensions pins in all of the pivot points, bigger diameter lift and crowd rams and more material around key areas such as the ‘knee’ of the main boom. We are offering a key stockholding of models from 3.5 to 4.8 metre lift heights, 2.3 to 4.2 tonnes lift capacity, designed for tractors from 90 to 270hp. Loaders can be supplied in colours to match the base tractor, or of course in the standard grey/black format.”
