JCB test drive

Since last year, AgroCentre has been supplying new JCB SSL 175 telescopic mini-loaders to the Russian market. Prior to offering new equipment to farmers, the Company gives them an opportunity to test it on their farms. The JCB SSL 175 loader has passed tests simultaneously on three farms of the Yaroslavl oblast.

Higher productivity

The Krasny Mayak farming enterprise has used the JCB Robot 170 loader for the sixth year now. The upgraded model, JCB SSL 175, with a single beam jib, caught the experts’ fancy. The PowerBoom jib is fitted with a standard mechanical carriage that is quickly removable and has outlets for auxiliary hydraulics. The lifting capacity of the new model has grown by 100 kg. It was pointed out on the farm that in terms of efficiency there’s hardly another skid steering mini-loader like this one.

The loader ran, moving fodder on the preparation table. It also cleaned the premises.

Another use of the loader in building applications is the erection of enclosures. The JCB loader took only 7 minutes to drill 5 holes, 1.2 m deep and 40 cm in diameter. As Vasily Finogeyev, Krasny Mayak LLC director-general said, once the new cowsheds are built, the JCB loader will come in very useful on his farm!

In 36 minutes!

The Dzerzhinsky pedigree animal farm, an open joint-stock company, is engaged in husbandry and crop production. The performance of the JCB SSL 175 loader surprised its chief zoologist. At the livestock facility, the manure and litter were usually removed by the storehouse loader using a stacker with a bucket whose box often got overheated from overload, in which case the entire machine practically stopped moving. The stacking loader used to take 1.5 hours to clean one side of the calf house while the JCB SSL 175, surprisingly for all, did the job in a mere 36 minutes! It was noted that the loader quickly removed the manure even from hard-to-reach places. It moves easily through the smallest gates and passages. The experts pointed out that the JCB loader could simultaneously replace three machines: a stacking loader, manure and silage handling loader, and a tractor with a cart for carrying straw rolls. Most importantly, it can be used for easy delivery of rolls to calf houses, a job which was previously done by hand. The cabin air tightness and air filtration prevent dust penetration into the cabin. Vitaly Smurygin, the enterprise’s director general, says that loaders like the JCB unit will be irreplaceable in further expansion of business.

Obvious advantages

SKhP Voshchazhnikovo Open Joint-Stock Company (Borisoglebsky district) is one of the leading dairy production enterprises in the region, a champion in milk yield. The enterprise runs two livestock facilities, each for 2,400 head of dairy cattle. Construction of a third dairy facility and a milk processing facility is underway. The engineers were interested to test the JCB SSL 175 because the farm is already using a skid steering loader but of a different model. The engineers pointed out that JCB offers a number of advantages. On the farm, the loader does a fine job of cleaning the storehouse floor to the bare concrete! They also liked the manoeuvrability and operating speed of the loader. The specialists of the farm checked the rated lifting capacity of the loader at 794 kg and were agreeably surprised when the machine lifted a 1,000 kg sack, moved on, turned around and put the sack back in its place! The loader is very convenient to maintain. First off, the longitudinal mount of the engine affords easy access to the drive belt and associated components. The number of lubrication points on this model is 30% fewer than on traditional two-beam skid steering mini-loaders with vertical elevation.

SSL 175 provides better all-round visibility than a normal mini-loader with a two-beam jib. The side entrance enables the operator to safely enter and quit the cabin. Operator comfort is appropriate, with a spacious fully air-tight cabin, air conditioning system and convenient controls. The specialists pointed out that the JCB equipment acquired had been carefully thought out.