Exclusive Test Drive with the Quicke V-Series Front Loader

We are sure that this test will bring a lot of news to our readers, both in terms of the manufacturing company and the solutions used in the equipment we evaluated in the field, the Quicke brand front loader, model V3S.

For readers who are not yet familiar with the company, we will begin by telling you a little about Quicke's recent history in our country. The Jost World group, of German origin, brings together important brands, such as Jost itself, as well as Rockinger, Tridec, Quicke and Hyva. The group's products include units and components for articulated buses, winches and lifts for trucks, loaders for agricultural use and cabins for agricultural and industrial machinery, among others.

The Jost brand is well-known, especially in Europe, for being the world leader in the manufacture of fifth wheels for trucks, which are an important safety element in cargo transportation and enable the movement of units coupled to the truck. Quicke, which originated in Sweden, has 75 years of experience, mainly in front loaders, bringing all the technology of this product to the group of companies. The group of companies of the brand for our continent gives rise to Jost Agriculture & Construction South America (Jacsa).

In order to establish itself in Brazil, Quicke acquired the operations of Siac do Brasil and Crenlo do Brasil, which were national companies in the mechanical engineering sector. Since 2000, Siac has been manufacturing tractor cabins and industrial machinery. In 2012, Siac do Brasil was acquired by IES, and as a representative of the Paladin brand products. After changing its name, the company became Crenlo do Brasil Engenharia de Cabinas, the entire operation was acquired by Quicke, with an industrial overhaul that we were able to see during our recent visit to the facilities in Guaranésia, Minas Gerais.

We were welcomed at the company by Ricardo Barbosa, who is the sales and new business development manager; Mauro Camillo, sales coordinator; and João Guilherme Madeira, who, in addition to being a sales consultant, helped us prepare and operate the test equipment. To learn about the product line, technical details and technological differences of the equipment, we had the support of Arnaldo Thomaz Sebastião Filho, who currently provides full technical and commercial support, but who will soon coordinate technical marketing actions.

The Quicke Charger

Currently, the operation in Brazil offers the front loader as its main product, but the company continues to produce cabins for agricultural and industrial machinery, with quality in the industrial process, ergonomic bases and versatility as key points, as we were able to confirm during our visit to the factory on the same day as the field test. However, the front loader is the main product and its supply should increase in the coming months. Of the series produced in Europe, the V series, which is the standard and most widely used, is currently being produced in Brazil. The C series may soon be available in the country, as the company is planning to do so. In the future, the N and Q series, the latter being the brand's Premium series, may also be options for Brazilian producers.

Since the beginning of its activities in our country, the company has identified an important detail: our culture of using front loaders on tractors is quite small. We do not use this equipment as frequently as in other countries, especially in Europe. Due to the type of agriculture practiced in Europe, it is common for tractors to be purchased with a loader. In Brazil, however, only one in ten tractors comes equipped with a loader from the factory. However, due to the usefulness and growing supply of this type of product, this reality should change and demand will increase.

Quicke enters the Brazilian loader market with the experience of having sold over 900 units and hopes to spread its use, especially among producers who need to move products and loads. The front loader, in addition to being very useful, is quite safe compared to other solutions adopted and will undoubtedly see an increase in its adoption.

The V series is offered in models that vary according to the size of the tractor on which the loader will be installed and also with the self-leveling option. Thus, the V2 model is recommended for tractors with 40 hp to 70 hp of maximum engine power, while the V6 should be installed on tractors with 100 hp to 180 hp. The model nomenclature will have the series designation, V (Value); the size of the tractor by its engine power, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6; and the letter S, when it is self-leveling (Self Leveling).

When purchasing a tractor, the customer will have to consider the power of the tractor engine when making the purchase, in order to choose the most suitable model according to the type of work they do. After this, they will be able to choose whether or not to self-level. The company is organizing training sessions so that all sales points are able to design and recommend the right equipment for each specific situation.

Test site and operations performed

To test the Quicke V front loader, we went to Fazenda Guaritá, in the city of Arceburgo (MG), 25 km from the company's headquarters. There, we met a family that is in the fourth generation of rural production, since 1920. They are a Quicke partner for product development. We were welcomed by Mr. Josimar Andrade dos Santos and his son Gabriel Miachon dos Santos, who manage a milk production activity in an intensive system, “compost barn”, with 422 animals, divided into lactation, empty, pre-calving and production stages. The production is 14 thousand liters/day of milk, distributed in three milkings per day. In addition, the family is a producer of coffee and beef cattle.

In addition to learning about the dairy cattle management system, which is kept in the best conditions of thermal comfort and feeding, we saw that all the pavilions are equipped with plenty of water, controlled feeding according to the lactation stage and powerful fans to control the ambient temperature. Corn silage is produced on site and mixed with other components that make up the feed given to the animals, directly in the trough line. The silos are shaped and covered with plastic tarpaulin, as the harvested material arrives in trucks, which receive the product directly in the self-propelled forage harvester. Once at the silo site, the material undergoes intense movement and compaction work to adapt to the volume to be covered. At that moment, the front loader plays an important role, because it is with it that the material is gathered and lifted. We watched the work of the Quicke loader, model V3S, installed on a New Holland tractor, model TL5.100.

To understand how this equipment works, it is necessary to recognize that it is made up of three main parts: the subframe or support, the loader itself and the implement.

Subframe

The subframe is the structure that is attached to the tractor and to which the loader is attached. It is specific to each tractor brand and, once installed, can remain on the tractor, freeing it up for other operations. Therefore, the producer can buy several subframes and install them on each of his tractors, including those of different brands and models, and have only one loader, moving from one tractor to another, according to the need and always considering the same power between the tractors and maintaining a uniform capacity range that meets each loader connected to the tractor.

Quicke designs and offers a specific subframe for the customer's tractor model, according to its construction characteristics. Since there are currently two types of tractor structures: the monoblock type, in which the transmission and engine components are bolted together to give the final shape, and the modular type, in which the transmission and engine components are mounted on a side member, or chassis, the company must design the appropriate subframe for each tractor. Some of these structures, designed for monoblock tractors, are more complex to provide strength, while the structures designed for modular structure tractors, with chassis, will be smaller and simpler, as there will be better anchoring points. This work is very important for the success of the application and Quicke dedicates time to executing the best design. Currently, Quicke offers more than 30 different types of subframes for the Brazilian market and in Quicke's global library there are more than 4 thousand tractor subframes manufactured worldwide.

On the tractor we tested, the subframe was attached to the front axle support, then to the center of the transmission, and finally, with two tie rods, directly to the bottom of the rear axle shaft. In Quicke's understanding, the subframe installed on the tractor has to act as a part that receives the overload and distributes that load across the subframe without causing damage to the tractor structure.

Charger

The second component of the set is the loader itself, which is a set of articulated arms that move at the operator's command. The two arms, in an L shape, go from the central joint to the implement coupling system, joined by the “cross tube”, which is a horizontal transversal tube that joins these two arms and is placed in the lower position, forming an H-shaped structure. This is one of the brand's technological differentials. Unlike its competitors, the loader does not use a high crossbar, which impairs the operator's visibility. With the same purpose, the parallel arms were placed in a lower position, to increase the worker's field of vision. We verified in the test that, even with the bucket raised, the vision is not impaired. By choice of the manufacturer, most of the components and, in particular, the parallel arms come from abroad joined by welding, done with robotics, which guarantees the quality of the part. Here at the factory in Brazil, Quicke joins the parallel arms with the “cross tube”.

There are several joints in this equipment. One of the most important is the upper one, where the ends of the arms articulate on the subframe. These supports are very resistant to friction. After coupling, safety pins are placed, which only have this function and do not participate in the articulation. In fact, during the test, we found that the pin rotates freely, even with the equipment loaded.

Two other important technological differences are the forged steel knees, placed in the curves of the upper arms to increase resistance, and also the fact that the hydraulic hoses and the electrical harness are embedded in the structure of the arms. This detail is important in cases where there is a possibility of collisions with other objects that could cause damage to the hoses and the harness.

At the other end of the arms, where the different implements are attached, the tool-holding structure is standardized to ISO, Euro type 8 system, used worldwide, which provides compatibility with any equipment that complies with this standard.

While working with the Quicke loader, two things impressed us. First, the Q-level feature, where the engineers designed the joints and dimensions so that the bucket always remains level, even when it is being raised or lowered. It remains level throughout the entire stroke. The second point to highlight is that the geometry of the joint between the loader and the implement allows that, when the operator lowers the implement to the working position, for example filling the bucket, it is positioned further back than that of competitors. This helps to improve filling and, therefore, makes the operation more efficient. Also to assist the operator, a ruler placed on the left parallel bar indicates the position of the implement. When working with a bucket, it is important for the operator to see its position when fully lowered. The ruler has a red dot that helps him visualize the extreme positions of the stroke.

Implements

We call the part of the loader that performs the function an implement and, therefore, can be changed, depending on the work to be done. Currently, there are six alternatives available, one for each function. The first, and most common, is the bucket (scoop), which can be filled with material up to a volume that depends on one of the three models offered by Quicke. In a situation like the one we saw at Fazenda Guaritá, it is the most commonly used piece of equipment. It is used to move materials, collecting them in a lower position, elevating and articulating them for unloading. In the silage process, it is used to group the material, increasing the height of the silo and reducing its width and length.

The second implement we saw working on the farm is the Multibenne M+, which is a silage fork, or rather, a silage fork, as it is used to remove the material from the silo after it is ready. We work with this equipment, also known as the Multi Bene silage fork. With long tines, it penetrates the silage mass from the bottom and top, separating a block and depositing it, in our case, directly into the feeder wagon. We practiced with it and with a bucket from a competitor brand, and while the production of the bucket required eight bucket loads to fill the feeder, with the silage fork it only took one and a half loads for the same volume. It deposits the entire block inside the feeder, which has a screw that homogenizes this material with the compound feed that was already inside. It really is a huge save in time and fuel, which is taken out of the expense heading and goes to the producer's profit.

Other implements available and perfectly compatible with Quicke loaders are the pallet truck, used to handle pallets up to 2.500 kg, and the bale conveyor, useful for handling round bales. A long tooth grips the bale and two smaller teeth prevent it from rotating and destroying the block. The Unigrip was also developed to work with bales, which is used to grip and transport bales that are stacked or even plastic-wrapped.

An important point to highlight and which we evaluated well during the test is the control. Without a doubt, an advance in this type of equipment. Instead of traditional levers, the control is of the multifunctional type, known as a “joystick”.

The forward and backward movement of the multifunctional lever is used to lower and raise the implement. Movements to the right and left tilt the implement, in the case of the bucket, to load or unload. However, if the customer uses the clamping functions, such as the silage fork and the Unigrip, for bales, as an option, they can purchase the “joystick” with the third function button, which performs the clamping. To perform the third function, simply press the button on the “joystick” and perform the movements to the right and left.

Also very important is Quicke's proposal to build the joystick support, which comes from Belgium, according to the tractor's operating position, maintaining an ergonomic criterion for its position. Thus, in all installations the position will be the most favorable for the operator's comfort.

As for the hydraulic circuit for moving the pistons, it starts with the power supply from the tractor's hydraulic pump, through connections that connect to the hoses. Therefore, when the loader is uninstalled, the connection part that goes from the pump to the quick couplings positioned to the right of the operator remains on the tractor. Connections come out of the coupling support through one of the parallel arms to the front of the loader. An interesting innovation is the use of flat quick coupling valves. Normally, ball or needle valves are used, and in this equipment, we find flat face valves. This type of valve uses an elastomer bushing and a spring, making this device leak-proof, both in connection and when used under pressure. This is the most modern feature of this type of connection.

In the connection between the loader and the implement, a pneumatic accumulator was used to stabilize the movements, and a central valve that, in addition to facilitating the achievement of large angles, acts as a relief valve, protecting the piston rod against excessive forces that could damage it due to hydraulic wedge. The electrical wiring harness for controlling the central valve runs along with the set of hoses and hydraulic connections.

For uncoupling and changing the implement, the quick-coupling connection makes the task easy. To remove the loader from the support that remains on the tractor, there is a very logical sequence of actions, including support using two rear stands, moving the loader to exit the subframe and disconnecting the hoses. About to offer it to the Brazilian market, Quicke will bring to the country the “lock and go” system, which is self-locking and will be applied as standard to the entire product line. In this system, the connection of the hose terminals and the electrical harness will be locked only with a pressure lever. Locking the implement hitch is an important point in the safety of the operation. In this case, the manufacturer placed a lever, highlighted in yellow, to perform this locking.

Maintenance of the Quicke loader is quite simple and mainly involves lubricating the critical articulation parts with grease, which is done by a set of grease pins. One of the necessary precautions is the lubrication of these points, especially those that come into contact with corrosive products.

With its arrival in the Brazilian market and the worldwide experience of the entire group to which it is linked, Quicke is organizing its sales network, establishing points of sale through dealers and multi-brand resellers. To ensure that the urgent needs of its customers are met, it will keep a parts kit organized in a totem with each dealer, containing all the main maintenance elements.

In short, it was a great experience to test for the first time at Cultivar Máquinas Magazine a piece of equipment as useful as this loader and to see that it is possible to add technology, even to a piece of equipment that at first glance seems simple. We highlighted several positive points, mainly the geometry of the equipment, which allows for increased quality of work and efficiency in operation; the manufacturer's concern with ergonomics, represented by the multifunction control; and the care taken with the visibility of the operator during coupling and operation; but, we were also very struck by the manufacturer's willingness to produce a specific subframe for the tractor and the possibility of interchanging loaders between several tractors and that it meets the power range for each loader connected to the tractor. Likewise, during the visit to the factory, we were struck by the industrial quality of the product and its components, in comparison with other products on the market.

Jose Fernando Schlosser,
Agrotechnology Laboratory – Nema/UFSM