At a special event held at the Heart of England Conference & Events Centre in Warwickshire in the UK, Bobcat unveiled a new expanded range of telescopic loaders for the UK farming market. At the event, Bobcat presented the new top-of-the-range TL43.80HF AGRItelescopic loader for the first time in the UK. The TL43.80HF AGRI combines several new features to take lift capacity, lifting height and breakout force to unprecedented levels in the farming market.

Attendees including Bobcat dealers, prospective customers and the media put the TL43.80HF AGRI through its paces, together with several other models from the Bobcat farming range, including the TL30.60 AGRI, TL34.65HF AGRIand TL38.70HF AGRImodels. They were also able to try out and compare several telehandler models from other suppliers, as part of their assessments of the Bobcat telescopic loaders.

John Christofides, regional sales director, UK/Ireland, Nordics and Baltics for Bobcat EMEA, said: “We are delighted with how the event went – it represents an important milestone for Bobcat in the UK, with the launch of our newly expanded telescopic loader range for the agriculture market. We were able to combine presentations to farming customers and the press with forums and training for our UK and Ireland dealers, all at the same location.

“The event allowed us to demonstrate the productivity provided by Bobcat telescopic loaders, combined with the ease of operation and comfort they offer. All are available on short lead times and come with an industry unique three year/3000 hour warranty as standard. In addition, we are running an exceptional three-month promotion through our UK and Ireland dealers, ending on 31stAugust 2019, extending the warranty to five years/5000 hours free-of-charge on all Bobcat Ag telescopic loaders purchased in this period. This reflects the confidence we have in the high performance and robustness of our machines.”       

Over 40 years of expertise in telescopic loaders

Offering over 40 years of expertise in telescopic loaders, the Bobcat range is manufactured at the company’s plant at Pontchâteau (Brittany) in France. With the new TL43.80HF model, Bobcat now offers a choice of seven telescopic loader models for the farming market covering maximum lifting capacities between 2.6 and 4.3 tonne with lifting heights from 6 to 8 m.

They are designated using a naming system showing lifting capacity/lifting height performance at a glance:

  • TL26.60, TL30.60 and TL30.70Compact productivity models
  • TL35.70, TL34.65HF, TL38.70HF and TL43.80HF Productivity and High Flow models

The new top-of-the-range TL43.80HF AGRI – The star of the show

Offering amaximum lift capacity of 4.3 tonne and a maximum lift height of almost 8 m, the new TL43.80HF is built for intensive loading work. In fact, the TL43.80HF is the only machine in this area of the market that can use a 3500 l light material bucket, combining this with a Z-bar tilt angle of 152° and a higher breakout force of 7000 kg.

When compared to other machines in this segment, the TL43.80HF provides greatly superior performance offering an increase of up to 40% in loading productivity. Cereal truck loading, for example, has never been so fast as it is with the new TL43.80HF telescopic loader.

HF – High Flow technologyis a key feature of the TL43.80HF, TL38.70HF and TL34.65HF models, offering outstanding hydraulic capabilities and performance with a class-leading 190 l/min load sensing pump and flow sharing distributor to combine all movements together. This hydraulic flow makes it possible to maintain a high work rate with an increasing number of advanced hydraulic attachments including mixer feeder buckets, bale unrollers and straw bedders.

Olivier Traccucci, Bobcat telehandler senior product manager, said: “This allows the operator to work at significantly lower speeds, consume less fuel and benefit from much shorter working cycles. To prevent unnecessary oil heating and power loss, the load sensing pump supplies oil only when hydraulic power is required.” 

The High Flow technology is combined with the patented Power Lift system working as a hydraulic booster to lift up to 4300 kg without the boom movement being slowed down. “Together, these systems in the TL43.80HF provide the best boom cycle times in this segment of the market. In practice, this means no waiting time for the telescopic boom to be in the right position, it is already there!” Olivier Traccucci added.

For John Suggitt, who runs a farm and other businesses in Driffield in East Yorkshire in the UK, his new TL43.80HF AGRI telescopic loader supplied by local Bobcat dealer, AMS Bobcat Ltd, is the perfect machine: “Our new TL43.80HF AGRI has been a fantastic investment, combining excellent lifting capability with superb compactness. I was looking for a telescopic loader that could lift 4 tonne and offer a reach of 7 m, but with the TL43.80HF, I can lift a massive 4.3 tonne with a lifting height of 8 m. Being 20 cm shorter than the equivalent 7 m machines, the TL43.80HF gives me the compactness and productivity I need to work in the tight spaces on the farm and in my storage and building businesses.”

AGRI finishing packages

To complete the picture, Bobcat now offers the entire range of telescopic loaders in three levels of finishing in the form of AGRIequipment packages to best meet farmers’ needs in terms of productivity and comfort.

  • AGRI 1 starhas all mandatory equipment to work in a farming environment, such as a fan inverter, steel-belted radial tyres, 40 km/h maximum drive speed, a rotating tow hitch and an electric socket.
  • AGRI 2 starshas desirable features such as an air suspension seat, FNR on the joystick and lever, full halogen work lights, a rear mirror on the tow hitch, a loudspeaker and radio readiness.
  • AGRI 3 starsoffers all the equipment needed to work optimally and in the greatest comfort, including hydraulic attachment locking, auto boom suspension, air conditioning and full LED work lights.

 The Bobcat D34 engine

The Bobcat D34 engine has been developed and manufactured internally specifically for use in the company’s new generation telescopic loaders for highly regulated markets in EMEA. This has resulted in optimised performance throughout the range. The compactness of the D34 engine and a new styled low profile engine hood improve visibility on the engine side. The D34 engine offers enhanced performance and is available in three different sizes – 75, 100 or 130 HP. 

All of these engines share the same electronic fuel injection, High Pressure Common Rail technology, turbo-charged air management and Cooled Exhaust Gas Recirculation for lower emissions and do not require the use of Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) technology. 

 Bobcat telescopic loaders – more novel features

All the models offer novel features providing higher comfort and productivity:

  • Power lift, an efficient lifting technology that optimises the use of hydraulic flows between telescopic boom cylinders to increase the lifting capacity.  
  • Automatic Parking brakefor enhanced safety and operator convenience.
  • Automatic Fan inverter, whereby a cycle time can be set for cleaning radiators and the air intake grill; a simple way to maintain efficient cooling.
  • Boom Cushion Retract that automatically slows down the boom speed when the boom is nearly fully retracted or at min/max angles, increasing safety and operator confidence.
  • High Comfort Air Suspension Seat, including longitudinal and low frequency suspensions. Many adjustments are available to allow the operator to find the most comfortable drive position.

There are also a number of tried and tested smart operating features still offered as standard:

  • SMS (Speed Management System), which allows the travel speed to be adjusted independently of the engine speed.
  • SHS (Smart Handling System), which allows the speed of the boom movements (lifting, telescoping and tilting) to be adjusted, depending on the type of work being carried out.
  • AFM (Auxiliary Flow Management), which allows the hydraulic output to be adjusted to match attachment requirements and to set a continuous flow.
  • FCS(Fast Connect System), which provides quick and easy interchange of hydraulic attachments via an integrated pressure-release system.

Another standard feature is the ECO modewhich maintains optimum hydraulic performance without using the engine’s full power, adjusting the main machine features to produce a balance between top performance and providing the best performance/fuel consumption ratio. 

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