Earlier this year we published a head-to-head test between the Claas Scorpion 6030 and the JCB 525-56. Now we ask two farmers who own these machines to tell us what they think.

Tom Rawson, Legsby, Lincolnshire

Evolution Farming

Handler: Claas Scorpion 6030

Tom Rawson’s Claas Scorpion 6030 compact telehandler arrived on the farm just a few days after he, his family and 76 cows moved into Bleasby Grange at Legsby, Lincolnshire.That was in May this year and its arrival heralded the start of a heavy workload which saw the loader being used to move water troughs, unload building material and undertaking all manner of tasks alongside its more conventional duties of loading feeder wagons, mucking out and bedding cow cubicles.

“It has been and continues to be a busy time,” says company director Mr Rawson, whose plan is to reinstate the farm as a dairy unit with a herd of 350 cows rising within a couple of years to 440. Already a new 24/48 swingover herringbone parlour has been installed but there is still plenty of building work to be done.

“We have also installed new cubicles into some of the buildings but we continue to use several older cubicle sheds we inherited when we took over the tenancy,” he explains. “While being the right size for our cross-bred cows, the passageways between them are, by modern standards, very narrow – hence the reason why we opted for the Claas 6030CP which has a width of just 2.25m.

“One of the key tasks for the loader is to bed the cubicles with powdered gypsum using a hydraulically powered AG Dispenser bucket which fits onto the loader and distributes the material to either side as it travels along the passageway. There are only inches to spare and not much more in terms of height when entering the building.

About half of the herd is bedded in open yards on straw so the cereal harvest has seen the 6030 also being used to load trailers with round bales – the trailers are then hauled by the loader up to the headland where other tractors are used for the trip back to the yard.

“I don’t think this machine is entirely suitable for road haulage with heavy loads on four wheel trailers,” he says. “Its 100hp Deutz block, while being a gutsy engine, is not perhaps up to handling large trailers and the 30kph transmission is a bit on the slow side.”When it comes to loading though, a 3000kg lift capacity and a lift height of just over 6m is considered more than adequate.

“It really is surprising just how much capacity there is for what is, on the face of it, a pretty diminutive machine,” he says.With a width of 2.25m and height of 2.21m, the 6030 is also manoeuvrable – its turning radius with four wheel steer engaged is 3.7m. Only one other tractor is employed on this 160ha (400 acres) farm and it is used for yard scraping duties. All the other jobs, such as maize and whole crop wheat production, are performed by contractors – including the feeding using a mixer wagon.”Our investment in machinery is minimal,” explains Mr Rawson. “I consider my business to be milk production – not one of running and maintaining vast amounts of tractors and implements.

“While this policy clearly has its merits in terms of containing cash investment, he recognises the extra demands it puts on the loader to perform the myriad of tasks required each day on a dairy farm.”We have a wide range of attachments including a bale spike, silage shear grab, pallet forks and the dispenser, but it’s fair to say the loader gets used for a wide number of tasks such as fencing, gate hanging, trough installation and so on,” he says. “We have also used it pretty extensively during the building of the new parlour and will, no doubt also use it for further building projects we have planned.

“A man who clearly appreciates a few home comforts, Mr Rawson says he is surprised at the degree of comfort the cab affords.”The seat is great but I think the remote control for the radio is a little over the top – you are, after all, only inches away from the radio,” he says. “But overall, I’m pleased with this machine – it suits our farm well.”

Andrew Chapman, Whenby, North Yorkshire

Whenby Lodge Stud Farm

Handler: JCB 525-56

With 300 prime breeding bulls which need to be continually cosseted and nurtured, farm manager Andrew Chapman has perhaps more than his share of toil and strife to cope with.

The care of these beasts, he says, is a world apart from tending to the requirements of your average cow herds which placidly cope with the routines of milking. They have different dietary requirements, different housing demands and, should one need reminding, they can be dangerous.

Based at Whenby, North Yorkshire, the 128ha (320-acre) farm is a holding point for bulls – they arrive aged between 11 and 18 months having been put to cows. They stay until they’re about three and a half years old while their progeny is assessed.

A key component in the care department is the farm’s telehandler – a JCB 526-56 – which is in almost constant use on a wide range of duties. It has been at Whenby for about 15 months having replaced one of a pair of aging Matbros – a second 526-56 is due to arrive later this year to replace the remaining Matbro.

Like many other farmers, though, when changing makes of telehandler, Mr Chapman was reluctant to replace all the Matbro attachments – the pallet forks, buckets, grabs and so on. The cost would have been prohibitive, so he had the headstock on the telehandler adapted to allow the Matbro kit to be used.

“I know we shall have to change over to JCB compatible attachments sometime in the future but not just at the present,” he explains. “We shall have the second 526-56 adapted as well.”

Of the 128ha, about 20ha (50 acres) is used for wheat production – half of which is cut for wholecrop silage and the rest harvested, with grain used as part of the bulls’ ration. A percentage of the grass area is used as paddock grazing during the summer with up to four cuts of silage being taken off the rest.

When housed – some in small groups in loose housing, older ones in individual pens – wood shavings are used for bedding which are sprinkled across the bedding area. While being an entirely suitable and cost effective material, it does tend to be incredibly dusty.

“One of the most important features of the 526-56 for us is its reversible fan which we use to blow the dust out of the radiators at regular intervals,” he says. “Without it we would have all sorts of problems with overheating and downtime.”

The telehandler is also used daily to load feed ingredients into an 18t Taarup mixer wagon. Apart from having to purchase 1000 big bales of straw and minerals, the farm aims to be self sufficient in the feed department.

Having to work in some confined areas called for the machine to be pretty manoeuvrable which, comments Mr Chapman, while not being quite so good as the Matbro, is sufficient. In all-wheel-steer mode this 2.3m wide, 4m long machine can be operated in some tight corners.

“We use the telehandler for scraping out yards and for loading the muck when it comes to cleaning out at the end of the housing period,” he says.

Other duties allocated to the machine include loading grain at harvest time and unloading and stacking big square straw bales.

“The point is that as well as providing the 526-56 with a lift capacity of 2600kg, JCB has built sufficient strength into the machine – it’s boom, axles and so on – to handle this weight and more,” he explains. “Our Matbro loaders also had respectable lift capacity but, in my view, the machines were not built strongly enough to handle it.”

“The stockmen enjoy using it, although they will have to adapt a little when the new one arrives with its joystick control system. For us, it is the most important machine on the farm.”