That might be the perceived wisdom, but Stuart Johnston in Nantwich begs to differ, using his Merlo P26.6 SPT for some 8,450 hours in only three years.
Stuart has been managing Dorfold Dairy Farm at Acton for some 7½ years. He replaced the existing handler with a new 6m lift height Merlo P26.6 in 2001 and says it’s “In use all day and every day”. With a 500 head milking herd on Total Mixed Rations all year to feed and service, Stuart reckons that the Merlo has already handled some 30,000 tonnes of feed and 4,000 of concentrate.
Some nine or so attachments were retained from the previous handler, so this Merlo is fitted with an adaptor, replacing the standard Merlo carriage. The attachments include a silage shear grab, for which the P26.6 has plenty of reserve from its 2600 kg lift capacity. Important in this application are the low overall height and width, together with the manoeuvrability around some of the older buildings. The hydrostatic transmission gives great confidence (“we only come out of high range for the silage” says Stuart) and visibility is “superb”.
On the negative side, there were a few electrical problems at first, but these were swiftly cleared up by local dealer Barlow Agricultural Suppliers in Macclesfield. Since then, Barlows look after the major services with Stuart doing his own routine maintenance. It looks pretty good considering its high hours, and it seems likely to carry on in service at Dorfold for some years yet!
“Farm handlers don’t put on the hours!”
Dorfold Dairy Farm’s P26.6 SPT - with 8,450 hours
June 2004
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