Rising diesel fuel prices for Dutch farmers have forced some contractors to re-think their transport operations. At the start of 2013, the Dutch government removed the red diesel option from farmers. Now all diesel is white diesel, with no reduction or rebate for farming applications; that makes it expensive and worth managing.

This new diesel regime has focused farmers to look for more cost effective grass harvesting and transport operations. It is well acknowledged that tractors are not fuel efficient when it comes to road duties. On the other hand, trucks are more efficient transport vehicles, but not very effective when used on the land.

This change prompted Dutch trailer maker Pieter Veldhuizen, who owns the Hovertrack company, to look at alternatives. He had already been producing an existing and smaller Hovertrack tractor with some success.

He looked more deeply at the contracting needs, especially for grass harvesting as an option to self-propelled harvesters. He came up with a new high speed and road-friendly Hovertrack Luctor 544 tractor combined with a Shuitemaker Rapide 8400S silage wagon, both of which have been adapted for field and road operations.

The Luctor is a cross between a tractor and a truck. It is powered by a 440hp Iveco six-cylinder engine and based on the structure of an Iveco Trekker truck. The Luctor uses an air-powered ventilated disc brake system on all four wheels. It has ABS braking and a stability control system included in the transmission.

It has road-friendly Michelin agricultural tyres using 520/70 R38 tyres on the front and 800/70 R38 tyres on the back. It has a top speed of 80km/hr on the road.

The key feature of this giant haulage tractor is the US-built Allison gearbox. It has six speeds, two torque converters and two differential locks, one for each axle. This is claimed to give it the ability to tackle most farming conditions with smooth gear changing on the road.

The Dutch Hovertrack company has a lot of experience in making truck off-road drive and track systems, so we can expect that the drive components are already well tested in tough ground conditions.

The machine has a high central cab similar to that used on a new Holland F Series self-propelled silage harvester. This gives good field and road visibility, while its wheelbase is relatively compact. The cab is suspended and there is a suspension system on the front and rear axles, with a steering axle on the front.

Modified

Pieter linked this Luctor 544 to an interestingly modified Shuitemaker silage wagon. The idea was to allow for high grass pick-up speeds of up to 20km/hr in the field, coupled with fast road transport speed of up to 80km/hr.

The aim was to produce high field and transport work rates at a more attractive fuel cost compared with a standard tractor. In this case, Pieter was comparing the performance of the Luctor against that of a Fendt 926 with a similar wagon and a self-propelled system.

He claims that the results are impressive. The huge Shuitemaker Rapide 8400S with three axles and a load capacity of over 50m3, can shift over 10 tonnes of dry matter at speed and with fuel economy.

The fuel consumption rate is a maximum of 30 litres per hour, he claimed. This is more economical than an equivalent tractor and wagon or the self-propelled system. The fact that the wagon can pack grass tighter and that the combination has higher speed means that the output per hour is faster and the cost per tonne harvested is lower.

The giant silage wagon is attached to the Luctor 544 tractor by a swan-neck type coupling, allowing a large part of the weight of the machine to be transferred to the rear axle of the tractor. For the Shuitemaker combination, this entailed some interesting modifications around the design of the pick-up, hitching and emptying areas.

The hitch was divided to connect to both sides of the front of the wagon. These two drawbars meet in a high central position to give even weight transfer. The pto drive is taken from the engine directly through the top of this drawbar section in a unique gearbox design. The shaft then curves downwards to meet the input drive area.

Pieter is now offering the Luctor 544 tractor with its unique Shuitemaker silage wagon for hire in his farm hire fleet for €120/hour, including fuel, driver and excluding VAT, as part of a testing process.

Dry matter

“The 55m³ silage wagon packs 10,000kg of dry matter per load or about 26 tonnes of fresh grass. During the field work, we are cutting grass as short at 44mm in length at forward speeds up to 20km/hr in the field,” he said.

If the travel distances are long, they charge an additional €1.50/km to compensate for the extra fuel and tyre wear. And they expect payment up front.

The Luctor is very much a haulage tractor rather than a tillage tractor. It does not come with a rear or front linkage. You need a truck driver’s licence to drive it rather than a tractor licence because of the speed issues.

The price tag starts at a hefty €180,000, limiting its scope to the bigger operators and perhaps the bio-digester markets of Europe. Pieter is currently assembling his second Luctor 544 for the 2014 season. The Hovertrack company details are available in www.hovertrack.nl where videos of machines in action are worth a look at.

Kuhn dealer award from Larkins

Lyons and Burton of Kilcock, Co Kildare, have been announced as Kuhn Dealer of the Year in a quality programme put in place by Larkin (Dublin) Ltd, one of Ireland’s three Kuhn importers. James Larkin of Larkin (Dublin) Ltd, said that the award was in recognition of the level of customer service, Kuhn product sales of machines and spare parts, during 2013.

New Grassmen DVD launch

The Grassmen DVD company is launching a new title, Two Legends and a Donkey, to its popular range at its annual charity cinema night on Monday, 30 December, at the Tullyglass Hotel at 178 Galgorm Road, Ballymena, Co Antrim.

You can get more information from John McClean on 0044 7802644265 or on the Grassmen Facebook page. John said that the doors open from 7pm, with the viewing starting sharp at 7.30pm. Entry is £10 for adults and £5 for under 14s.

You can pay at the door while space permits, but remember that 700 people have already confirmed attendance.