A one-year report card on the TM150
22 June 2001
A one-year report card on the TM150
Nearly two years have
passed since New Holland
unveiled its TM tractor range
at the Agritechnica event in
Germany. Andy Moore
reports on a Norfolk grower
who operates not one, but
five TM150s
PRODUCT confidence plus a comprehensive warranty and service package were the only reasons Andy Wortley needed when investing in New Hollands TM150 tractor in July last year.
Tempted by discounts large enough to make even a car salesman balk, the Norfolk grower did not make any half-hearted decisions when it came to upgrading his all-in-blue tractor fleet.
Out went five New Holland 135hp 8360 tractors and in came five brand new 140hp TM150 models just eight months after the first of the new series rolled off the Basildon production line.
"Investing in five new series tractors at once was a bit of a gamble," says Mr Wortley, who runs the arable farm with his brother near Thetford. "But New Holland offered us a three-year warranty and service deal which was sufficient to give us confidence in the tractors."
But why five TM150s? With the TM150 a direct replacement for the 8360, Mr Wortley decided to standardise on horsepower.
Among his farms 570ha (1400 acres), cropping includes 61ha of sugar beet, 101ha of potatoes, 77ha of peas, 30ha of beans and 162ha of cereals.
"Growing such a variety of crops in a small acreage warrants medium horsepower tractors with all-round performance," says Mr Wortley. "Running tractors of equal horsepower also suits the size of our wide range of implements which continually have to be switched from one machine to another, according to the different growing seasons."
All the tractors were specified with front linkages and ptos, which Mr Wortley says are essential for performing dual operations, such as haulm topping in front of a two-row trailed potato harvester or consolidating ground with a press in front of a 4m combination drill.
Mr Wortley also believes the TM150 has shown its true colours when used for more specialist operations such as inter-row hoeing, bed forming, de-stoning and manoeuvring irrigation reels.
Full marks are awarded to the new machines Comfort Ride suspended cab which makes working between dammed row crop beds and potato planting a more comfortable experience over a 16-hour day, says Mr Wortley.
Conical mounts at the front of the cab absorb minor shocks, while combined spring and damper units at the rear serve to absorb large shock loads transmitted to the rear axle.
Also scoring points on the suspension front is the tractors Terraglide front axle suspension which is fitted as standard to two of the tractors.
"Driving the tractors with front axle and cab suspension is like being on another planet compared with our 8360s which had no suspension at all," he says.
"Terraglide takes bounce out of the front-mounted haulm topper and press during road transport and enables the operator to remain in contact with the seat when ploughing across root crop beds."
The front axle suspension offers 60mm of compression travel and 105mm of movement and the system is designed to level automatically according to load.
Mr Wortleys operators prefer to keep Terraglide engaged permanently throughout most operations, although when switched off the system engages itself automatically at speeds over 12kph to maximise comfort and safety.
Terraglide is available for tractors fitted with the two highest specification transmission options – 18×6 Range Command (semi-powershift) and 18×6 Power Command (full powershift).
Range Command was specified on four of the tractors and enables six sequential power shift speeds to be selected in three ranges.
"We specified the Power Command transmission on one of the tractors to allow more efficient operation of our trailed potato harvester," says Mr Wortley. "Power Command allows the 18 forward speeds to be selected sequentially without using the clutch so the speed of the potato harvester can be tuned to match the crop type, yield, gradient and ground conditions."
A feature included on Power Command which Mr Wortley finds particularly useful is the tranmissions Auto Transport mode. He says this has made hauling trailers loaded with 14t of sugar beet easier on the road.
In Auto Transport mode, the transmission automatically shifts through the top gears, according to engine torque and throttle position.
In addition to Auto Transport mode, the transmission includes an Auto Field mode designed to automatically shift up and down speeds from the selected ratio, while a Go To mode allows the transmission to downshift to a lower gear when an implement is raised for more controlled headland turns.
Mr Wortleys operators have yet to try out Auto Field and Go To mode during the annual 570ha (1400 acres) of ploughing, although he says the TM150 has ample power for pulling a five furrow vari-width plough.
"Despite a few minor electrical problems encountered with the three point linkage, the TM150s have so far been much more reliable than our previous 8360s," he concludes. "Fingers crossed, the machines will keep their track record after their first years work on the farm." *