Loader Wagon, Reviews

REVIEW: Lely Tigo PR 60 loader wagon

With silage season over, it might be worth making good on your promise to yourself each year to get a new loader wagon. New Zealand reporter MARK FOUHY checked out the latest Lely Tigo PR 60.

After a busy couple of months on the farm during calving, I was pretty keen to put on my New Farm Machinery hat and catch up with Matamata, New Zealand contractor, Roger Slattery and his new Lely Tigo PR 60 loader wagon.

Slattery uses the Tigo PR 60 to help harvest surplus grass for local clients and turn it into the best quality silage possible.

On a brilliant Waikato day last spring, I head just north of Morrinsville about 32km from Hamilton to catch up with Len Copping, the main operator of the John Deere 6210R and Lely loader wagon combination.

Copping has been driving for Slattery, contracting full time for nearly 10 years. Last season he operated one of two Strautmann wagons the company had. This year he has moved onto the new Lely Tigo PR 60 and has already clocked up more than 200 hours.

When I arrive, they are working on a 25-hectare job before heading to another 25ha — already cut and waiting to be harvested later in the day.

We have spring pasture to harvest for the customer the day I catch up with the Slattery contracting team. This client wants his silage fine chopped. With all 45 knives in chop length is around 37mm. Other clients prefer 74mm chop, achievable with half the knives.

 

Contents

Machine Overview

Pickup

Rotor

Bin and construction

Controls

Options

Verdict

 

Lely Tigo PR 60 Overview

Lely _Tigo _PR60

Lely’s new Tigo PR 60 wagons are all about machine design and systems for increased ease-of-operation.

Automation does a lot of the job for you: when you go from the road back to the field, if you lower the pick-up it will automatically lower the goose neck on the drawbar.

Load sensors on the tilting bulkhead automatically control the four floor chains, moving them as required when set on either high or low compaction, to shift the load from the rotor to the back of the wagon.

When the back of the wagon is full, it will tilt the bulkhead forward as that fills. With the wagon doing a lot of the jobs associated with loading, the operator just has to keep the tractor down the middle of the row for the pick-up to collect.

Being about 1m shorter in overall length when compared with other similar capacity machines, with its steering rear axle the Tigo is pretty manoeuvrable for its size. This will keep farmers happy and make it easier for operators to squeeze in and out of tight gateways.

Back to top

 

Lely Tigo PR 60 Pickup

Like most manufacturers Lely has opted for a camless pick-up on its Tigo range of loader wagons.

The first thing noticeable about the Tigo pick-up is how much quieter it is than the older Strautmann wagon the guys also had working on the same job.

The seven rows of tines with spacing of 54mm apart do an excellent job of collecting the rows. Pick-up width on the PR model is 190cm which should handle picking up rows out to 2m wide.

Lely has mounted the cutter rotor close in behind the pick-up, helping feed throughput with lower power requirements thanks to the gear design.

Back to top

 

Lely Tigo PR 60 Rotor

Each cutter rotor is made in four pieces which can be removed and replaced without removing the whole rotor. The design could save a lot of time in the field should damage occur.

The narrowest point is where the grass leaves the rotor and enters the bin of the wagon, with minimal lift required from the rotor to bin floor: feed is not damaged decreasing the quality. At 10km/h with 9m of grass rowed up they never looked like blocking once.

Filling the wagon is pretty easy. On good ground Copping says you can easily just keep filling the wagon until it is overflowing out the top.

To date, Copping has harvested lucerne, annual grass and spring pasture as we do the day I am there with the team. It is all handled well by the Lely Tigo PR wagon.

Back to top

 

Lely Tigo PR 60 Bin and construction

Lely _Tigo _8

One of my initial fears is what the strength of the bin will be like?

Removing one side of a box will generally make it collapse, but Lely has this sorted with a big steel cross beam trough at the top of the bin for strength. This also acts as a stop for the moveable bulkhead when in the loaded position.

Closely placed steel stanchions are bolted to the chassis frame providing plenty of strength to the all-steel superstructure.

Not relying on tubular ties and ropes across the top makes the Tigo range ideal for us as an extra bin next to the forage harvester for maize along with a cover for the rotor can quickly be put in place allowing work to carry on.

Back to top

 

Lely Tigo PR 60 Controls

Lely _Tigo _3

Knives are removed with the push of a button on the ISOBus terminal or Lely E-Link Pro touchscreen.

There are two controller options: the John Deere isn’t running the Lely through its ISOBus system, but Copping does have the same touchscreen system available to him with the Lely E-Link pro terminal.

This system provides a very good visual of what’s happening with the wagon full/empty/door open etc. Copping also has the Tigo control unit which does everything the ISOBus unit does with a touch key pad system. Both work very well.

Back to top

 

Lely Tigo PR 60 Options

Given the size of the loader wagon market and the options available, most wagons are bought in to individual customer specification.

For example you can get a standard tandem axle bogie set suspension, or opt for the hydro-pneumatic set-up with steering rear axle as Slattery has on his machine.

The hydro pneumatic suspension provides increased safety while working on the sides of hills and automatic level adjustment irrespective of load offering full spring stretch for suspension at all times.

Not all people would require the weigh system that was fitted to this machine, but this can provide contractors and farmers with a greater detail of what is being harvested, helping farmers with nutrient budgeting and fertiliser requirements, or contractors with planning times and job costings.

The Gandy box is supplied by power through the wagon. When the pick-up is lowered, inoculant will be applied to the silage (conversely, when the pick-up is raised the inoculant won’t be applied). Needless to say, this feature can save quite a bit of inoculant.

An optional pick-up tracer roller fitted to the wagon is very good on this country, protecting the pick-up to some extent.

With the weight of the tractor leaving slight indentations and the guide wheels at a similar width, the pick-up would have spent all day trying to dig up the paddocks.

Back to top

 

The Verdict

Some of the simplest ideas are the best ideas and the moveable bulk head of the new Lely Tigo PR range is quite a simple idea put together very well.

Offering more than the initial perceived benefit of greater load carrying capacity, it makes the machine more versatile as a transport wagon for working alongside a forage harvester for grass or maize.

Another benefit is the increased efficiency of less time unloading at the stack.

Innovation and constant improvement are key philosophies at Lely and even a quick look over the company’s machines reveals there is plenty of that built into the entire Lely Tigo range.

For the full test report, don’t forget to pick up a copy of New Farm Machinery magazine, on-sale February 2. Subscribe to the magazine now to never miss an issue!

Find loader wagons for sale

Photography: Mark Fouhy

Send this to a friend