Kincaid’s dual purpose Volvo
A family run farming and agricultural contracting business, located at Lochmaben near Lockerbie in Dumfries and Galloway, has recently purchased a bespoke specified Volvo L70H ‘Ag Spec’ to enhance two important areas of its activities...
The fourteen tonne L70H equipped with agricultural wheels and tyres, single lever hydraulic control and CDC (comfort drive control) was chosen by the Kincaid family following a visit to SMT’s recent Live It Dig It event in Yorkshire, and a subsequent visit to Cereals 2019 to inspect the machine close up. Suitably impressed with what they saw, the machine ended up on demonstration at their farm in Lochmaben and the decision to purchase was made.
“The Volvo L70H has fitted in perfectly to its two main activities. Firstly it provides the power required to buck rake the Kincaid’s own silage and that of all their customers,” explains Richard Kincaid. “From May to September, we are busy producing silage and, up until now, we’ve tried to accomplish this using tractors and tele-handlers, which aren’t particularly ideal for this application. As soon as we took the L70H on demonstration, we were immediately impressed with the power and tractive effort of the machine working on the silage pits. The pushing power and available torque from the machine’s powertrain is first class, and the machine has the optimum weight for excellent silage compaction. The added features of the single lever cinematic control, and the CDC steering, give precision when working in any size of silage pit,” he continues.
The second main duty for the new L70H shovel is loading and handling woodchips and wood pellets for the biomass side of the business, which takes place in a dedicated and purpose built drying shed with underfloor, forced hot air heating vents. “We bring in wood chips from local sawmills and wood pellets from Scottish Pellet Plant “The machine is used to rehandle the material and, subsequently, load it out for onward use by our customers in the commercial and domestic sectors,” he continues. A certain percentage is used to feed the plant’s own biomass burners, to create the hot air needed to dry the woodchips and other products.
The Volvo L70H benefits from a Volvo designed and purpose built powertrain, including the latest Stage V 6 litre 173hp engine, transmission and axles. The machine also benefits from energy efficient devices, such as the Volvo Eco pedal, encouraging the operator to run the machine at its optimum rpm in the engine’s torque curve and transmission lock up. The machine supplied to Kincaid sports additional optional features, including third and fourth line hydraulics, Turbo II pre cleaner and a Groenveld autolube system. A Volvo hi tip bucket, a general purpose bucket and heavy duty pallet forks were also supplied with the machine. A reversible fan ensures the engine’s cooling components are kept free of dust and debris, and the optional boom suspension feature makes for smooth driving on public highways.
Since taking delivery of the machine, Richard Kincaid is extremely pleased with the family’s new investment. “The CDC feature is a real asset when we are working in awkward silage pits and we recognize this almost as a safety feature, providing an immediate reaction to the steering system if the wheels sink unexpectedly running over a void. Similarly, the machine’s boom suspension makes the machine very comfortable when we are on the road driving between our various customers.”
For complete peace of mind, Kincaid has taken out a Level Two ENHANCE service contract with SMT GB, meaning that Volvo trained engineers will carry out scheduled servicing on the L70H, using genuine Volvo parts, oils and lubricants.