Telehandler vs tractor for daily chores ?

HDAV

Member
Avant are very good bits of kit but you can get a dumper like that for £5000. You’d need a lot more than that for an avant
Hmm but would it lift as much or higher than a skid steer? May do better on uneven softer ground? Would you need weight on the front axle to aid traction with an empty bucket and more on the rear stability with a full one?
Might make an interesting project and fitting a head stock to the end of the arms could be pretty simple just need a bit of work on the geometry biggest issue would be getting the bucket on the floor?
 

steveR

Member
Mixed Farmer
If the telehandler dies the whole farm grinds to a halt in a matter of minutes. (Well it does here) and it’s a mad scramble to get it going again as quick as possible, which is why we now have 2 of them.
I learned the importance of having a backup FEL 30 years ago when the old Teleshift popped a piston seal during a bank holiday or something... popped a loader on a 2wd zetor pdq...
 

thorpe

Member
We have 3 telehandlers because we can be spread out at times, and for backup. They do about 2000hrs a year between them
same here , but cant remember when one did let us down. bedding and feeding runs like clockwork! oh me and my big mouth its new years day tomorrow.
 

Optimus

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
North of Perth
Remember me when you find a replacement 😉

but spares particularly front axles are becoming hard to come by. Clutch is cheap but I guess a bit of a pig to do? Had to do one of ours not due to the clutch but a bearing had gone and while it was apart might as well put a new one in there….
tractor man had it apart for a few days not long after front axle failed then alternator so just had starter & alternator reconditioned ready for it to all be put back together hopefully in the new year ………. With a secondhand front diff and finger crossed it works 🤞

Turning circle isn’t great and wouldn’t want to drive one with a loader in a tight yard for very long bad enough in a car park…….
Ha I'll keep you in mind.hopefully have something else to replace it shortly.
Apparently its quite rare as its a ROC version has the 690 gearbox in it.
Yes turning is not the best but its not a tight yard so not a big issue.
 

tr250

Member
Location
Northants
Saw this at dealers a couple of months ago. It was tiny but I’m sure it would do twice what a loader tractor would
CDA557E9-4C94-4781-A770-F445F705A9B3.jpeg
 

som farmer

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
somerset
Industrial forklifts get stuck on a banana skin and have no reach. Telehandler boom out reach over into a pen. Easy, quick, safe & effective.
made me remember, we had a forklift, that fitted the 3 point linkage, on a zetor cristal, we thought it was the bee's knees, until we bought a proper forklift ! Definitely easier than the tractor one, but was absolute crap on steering, both only really good for corn, and fert, and odd pallets, both eclipsed by pallet forks on the FEL, then telescopics wow ! Now quite happy with a new FEL.
 

HDAV

Member
Ha I'll keep you in mind.hopefully have something else to replace it shortly.
Apparently its quite rare as its a ROC version has the 690 gearbox in it.
Yes turning is not the best but its not a tight yard so not a big issue.
ROC? 2 stick box? We have 2 stick and 3 stick 590 and a 2 (I think) Stick 690 the 690 hasn’t been used yet as we had a mare getting the v5….both 590 are later 6 stud axles 81 year I think and the 690 is an 84
 

DrWazzock

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lincolnshire
Begs the question why did you stop doing it:unsure:.😆
The supply of good reasonably priced local Fresian x Hereford calves direct from farm dried up. Dairies went Holstein. End of beef here.
We even stacked small bales of straw on the self feed silage clamp so as the clamp went back you just threw a few more down for bedding. Small bales were hard work in the summer usually got in by a gang of school kids, though we could have improved that with block handling and better access to sheds. But small bales made it easy in the winter. I still prefer them. Less waste. Better trodden muck. Dodging bullocks doing 30 mph round the pen could be tricky but you made sure you got bedded up before they had finished eaten up at the tumbrels. A single electric fence wire stopped them climbing the clamp face. Getting the bags of feed to the tumbrels necessitated stick in one hand, bag of cake on your shoulder, then turn tumbrel right side up as they’d always flip them over after they’d cleaned them out. We also had racks of hay on the walls to keep the muck drier. My uncle always came out of the pen with the baler bands hung round his neck. It looked like a considerable risk amongst energetic cattle but he never came to grief. Nowadays you would say the shed was a recipe for pneumonia or n a grand scale but for sure me reason we never had a problem.
 

Andy Nash

Member
Arable Farmer
We used to fatten 80 bullocks through the winter and rear on 80 calves without starting an engine for 6 months. They ate silage off the clamp face in the shed. Bedded with 8 small bales morning and night off the stack next to pen shaken out using hayforks. A few tumbrels about for bags of cake walked in on your back.😉😄
Welcome to the future
 
The supply of good reasonably priced local Fresian x Hereford calves direct from farm dried up. Dairies went Holstein. End of beef here.
We even stacked small bales of straw on the self feed silage clamp so as the clamp went back you just threw a few more down for bedding. Small bales were hard work in the summer usually got in by a gang of school kids, though we could have improved that with block handling and better access to sheds. But small bales made it easy in the winter. I still prefer them. Less waste. Better trodden muck. Dodging bullocks doing 30 mph round the pen could be tricky but you made sure you got bedded up before they had finished eaten up at the tumbrels. A single electric fence wire stopped them climbing the clamp face. Getting the bags of feed to the tumbrels necessitated stick in one hand, bag of cake on your shoulder, then turn tumbrel right side up as they’d always flip them over after they’d cleaned them out. We also had racks of hay on the walls to keep the muck drier. My uncle always came out of the pen with the baler bands hung round his neck. It looked like a considerable risk amongst energetic cattle but he never came to grief. Nowadays you would say the shed was a recipe for pneumonia or n a grand scale but for sure me reason we never had a problem.
I sometimes think about the dairy farm I used to work on late70s early 80s. 80 cows in kennels, self feed silage behind an electric wire, brewers grains under the silage. Cake in the parlour. Only machinery was TE 20 for scraping out and a wheelbarrow for bedding for cubicles. Pretty low cost system
 

HarryB97

Member
Mixed Farmer
A few months ago I moved from using a tractor and front loader with a mounted straw blower/silage feeder to running two Merlos with an auger bucket and front mounted unroller/straw blower. I would never go back to a tractor the speed and manoeuvrability make it so much more efficient. As a bonus if one telehandler plays up I have a backup as without one I can’t do anything so it’s also good peace of mind.
 

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