Located just outside Nenagh, Co Tipperary, Damien Dunne runs an agricultural contracting business alongside his father, Pat. Lifting about 4,000 acres of grass and contract spreading lime as well as dung, their wheeled loader is rarely idle.
The Dunnes decided to upgrade their 2012 Volvo L90G wheeled loader to a New Holland W170D for the 2018 silage season. Initially the plan was to keep the Volvo for another season but during 2017 their local dealer dropped out a New Holland W170D wheeled loader on demo.
Damien said: “In the past we only had Volvos. I hadn’t really driven anything else so I didn’t know what to expect of the W170D when it landed, but we had heard some good reports. The first thing that took me by surprise with the W170D was its power and ability to climb a pit. The L90G had good power too but it was sluggish; this we felt was its downfall.”
The response of the New Holland’s hydraulics was a standout feature for Damien: “You’d know it was built to suit pit work, whereas a lot of other branded machines, I think, are really designed for industrial work and adapted. Pit work is different – you need a more responsive machine in terms of its hydraulics and transmission. This is where the New Holland seems to prove itself.”
After having the W170D out on demonstration, Damien and Pat thought more about the loader before making the decision to trade in their 2012 Volvo for a new W170D for 2018. “We analysed the costs, and the New Holland was coming in at a very competitive price. We felt we were getting a lot of shovel for the money.”
Damien said the torque lock-up function of its five-speed transmission is a great feature for pit work and road travel. “The loader drives very much like a tractor on the road. It’ll do in the region of 45km/h, which is ideal moving between jobs, keeping up with the tractors especially when we go to spread lime as the loader is needed to fill the spreader.” Damien noted how contract lime spreading accounts for a large part of the business, growing year on year.
He commented on the loader’s good ground clearance under the rear counterweight. “Before, it wasn’t uncommon to rub the loader’s back end on a steep pit. Two seasons on with the New Holland and the paint hasn’t even been scratched. The loader is fitted with a 14ft OCE folding fork, which it’s well able for.” With an unladen weight of 14.8t, Damien finds the loader very stable on the pit.
Build quality
Damien is fond of the loader’s strong build, especially around the main pivot and boom, where strength is essential. The New Holland, like most of its competitors, uses a Z-bar linkage system. The Z-bar boom is constructed from 45mm plate steel. Damien, being used to the large single ram of the Z-bar system, likes the design for its visibility to either side of the fork. There is an option of a long-reach boom offering between 400mm and 500mm more height. However, the Dunnes’ loader has the standard reach. Lift capacity is 13.7t, with an overall max lift height of 4.1m.
The W170D is New Holland’s second-largest agricultural wheeled loader and is powered by a 197hp six-cylinder 6.7l FPT engine. A particular feature that stood out to Damien was the way in which the engine is cleverly mounted out behind the back axle at a low height. “The positioning of the engine leaves the loader well balanced. This means the cooling pack sits behind the cab. I was sceptical at first as to whether this would leave it hard cooled. Almost 2,000 hours on, cooling has never been an issue.”
The W170D is fitted with a Bosch Rexroth tandem variable displacement pump with a flow rate of 206l/min. The hydraulic oil tank has a capacity of 91 litres.
Damien noted how the loader’s engine bay is well laid out from a service point of view. All filters and maintenance points are easily accessed given that the cooling pack is located in front of the engine. The loader is fitted with an auto greaser and an electrically opening and closing bonnet.
The W170D sits on heavy-duty ZF axles with an automatic locking front differential and an open rear differential. Damien noted how this setup eliminates wheel spin on the pit allowing the loader to continue climbing. He said this was an issue with his old L90G at certain times.
Cab
Damien said the cab is comfortable. While maybe not finished to the same standard as the L90G, at the same time everything is well laid out, with the majority of controls in one cluster below the display screen. All machine information is displayed on the 8in LCD display on the A pillar. Although fitted with a reversing camera which appears on screen once reverse is engaged, Damien would have liked a dedicated display constantly showing the reversing camera for safety.
Damien likes the way in which the cab door swings around 180° and latches open similar to a digger door. Commenting on the lighting, Damien said: “The lighting package is one area that could be improved. It may only be a small thing, but you’ll never have enough light working at night.”
Damien said: “Having almost 2,000 hours on the clock, we really can’t fault the shovel in any way. So far, it has served us well. We hope to maybe upgrade it for 2021, we’ll see how things go this season. There was mention of a demo coming this summer of the larger W190D. I’m interested to see how it will compare given it has more power and more weight. Everyone now seems to be buying bigger machines for pit work but yards and pits for the most part are not getting any bigger, so for now I don’t know if a larger shovel is worth the extra investment if manoeuvrability becomes an issue, especially when the W170D is capable. I think you could describe the W170D as a bit of a dark horse.”
Built in Italy and North America, the New Holland W series is derived from German manufacturer O&K which was bought out by New Holland in 1998. However, O&K branded machines were available in limited numbers for several years after. In more recent years New Holland and Case IH have developed these loaders to suit the ag sector.
New Holland’s latest D models were launched in 2017 to replace the older C models. The D model was even more ag-suited, with the W120D, W130D and W170D being directed towards farmers and contractors.
As the trend grows towards larger wheeled loaders for silage work, New Holland has responded with its 234hp W190D. It is rumoured a W190D may be spotted on pits across the country this silage season as part of a demo tour.
The spec
Engine: 197hp 6.7l six-cylinder FPT
Transmission: Five-speed powershift with torque lock
Travel speed: 45km/h
Hydraulics: Rexroth closed centre pump (206l/min)
Weight: 14,800kg
Lift capacity: 13,700kg
Tyres: 750/65 R26
Fuel & AdBlue tank capacity: 246l & 37l
Price: €164,000 plus VAT