Tillers Turf invests in Kubota power
Leading turf grower and supplier Tillers Turf has invested in Kubota's new M6-142 tractor to provide the power for high output maintenance and harvesting equipment.
The 142hp tractor from the latest M6002 series is powered by a Kubota Stage V 6.1 litre four-cylinder engine and weighs in at just six tonnes, offering an excellent power to weight ratio for work with more demanding implements while maintaining a light tread on the top quality turf, which is used in leading sports venues around the country.
Its 24x24 (36x36 with creeper) speed Powershift transmission makes the best use of the engine's muscle whether on the road or in the field, and rear linkage lift capacity of 7000kg with up to four spool valves means that it can handle a wide range of implements.
For Tillers Turf's specialist requirements the M6-142 has been equipped with the latest Egnos guidance system for increased accuracy on tasks such as mowing. It has also been fitted with BKT turf tyres which exert minimal ground pressure as possible and have a wide, flat bottom tyres to avoid making indentations in the ground.
The tractor immediately impressed when paired with a 23 reel, 16m working width V-Mow cylinder gang mower, purpose-built for large scale turf production, but the team at Tillers' Turf also put their prospective purchase through an extensive series of trials, as Production Manager Charles Applewhite explains: "We run a fleet of some 20 tractors of 100-160hp for a variety of turf growing tasks and when we had M6 on demo we trialled it on 12 different applications from towing large trailers of turf rolls from the field to rotary mowing, cylinder mowing and powering specialist equipment for drainage operations, all of which it performed really well."
This was thought provoking for the company, he adds: "We even used it for some of the land work applications that are normally carried out using six-cylinder tractors. The M6 has an interesting engine - a 6.1 litre, four-cylinder which is a very large displacement, so there's less lag. It's a more traditional approach than some other engines, but easy to operate and it really surprised us with the variety of tasks it can do."
Tillers Turf also asked eight different operators to put the tractor through its paces and Mr Applewhite comments that it got the thumbs up.
"They really liked it - they praised the suspension, which gives the ride you'd expect from a bigger tractor, and found the Kubota extremely comfortable on the road. The decent DAB radio, heating and air conditioning and comfortable seat were also appreciated," he reports. "It may sound trivial, but when you are putting in long hours in the tractor, comfort is very important."
The M6 also scored highly for its manoeuvrability, with a good steering lock, and for how it performed on the turf, he explains: "It's light and power dense, which is crucial for us as we don't want to put excessive ground pressure on the areas that we are working on."
With the M6-142 now in its first season at Tillers Turf, and its bigger brother the M7003, also now in for evaluation, the tractors' capabilities have led him to think of the future: "We have five front line tractors which are changed every couple of years, but we also have 15-20 much older tractors which are kept in the fleet because they are simpler and we can maintain them ourselves in our own workshop. With the front line tractors, we are slowly losing the ability to do this, because everything needs a computer and specialist tooling," he explains.
"The M6 is unique because while it's as straightforward to maintain as one from the early 2000s, it still offers all the benefits of a modern tractor. We may be able to replace our older fleet with the Kubotas, which is where we saw it fitting in."
"What surprised us, however, is there were jobs that we thought only a six-cylinder tractor could do, but it could perform these. So looking to the future, a tractor like this with 140hp under the bonnet, but being so light and capable, could fit into our business model very well."