The telehandler business in Ireland is already significant and is set to grow further according to Shaun Groom, general manager for the newly formed Merlo Ireland.
It is a direct subsidiary of the parent group which is based in Piedmont in northern Italy.
Taking the marketing and distribution of its machines back under its wing is seen as an prerequisite to expanding sales in the Republic of Ireland, as the company will be in full control of the marketing efforts and it can focus exclusively on the brand, rather than the marque being one of several in a yard.
This has become something of a trend among manufacturers, as machines become larger and more complex, demanding a greater knowledge in those that are selling and servicing the products.
Telehandlers for all purposes
Yet, it must be noted that there are two distinct markets for telehandlers, construction and agriculture.
It is the former that makes up the largest part of the business, while farming, in Ireland at least, is just starting to latch on to the advantages of specialised machines for materials handling.
At this week’s launch, the company presented a small line-up of machines that were representative of the two ranges, construction and agriculture, for the models in each are quite distinct.
Construction sales are are dominated by hire company fleet purchases.
Telehandlers for this market tend to be basic in finish and somewhat lower powered, as they will suffer a large number of different operators and the tasks undertaken are not quite so demanding of the engine.
Farm machines, on the other hand, will tend to have just a small group of operators and will be engaged in operations where acceleration and road speed, in addition to lifting capacity, are important attributes, therefore, a larger engine is called for.
Yet, despite these differences, the frame and structure of the telehandlers are the same for both types of end user in each weight class.
The difference is in the detail and for agricultural customers, it is the engine power, more than anything else, that sets the Turbo Farmer (TF) range apart from the Panoramic (P) machines, which are construction orientated.
Farm machines from Merlo
In the agricultural sector, there are two machines in particular which Merlo will be promoting this autumn, neither of which, unfortunately, made it to the presentation on time.
The first is the TF 30.7, the 30 indicating that it has a lift capacity of 3,000kg and the seven denotes its reach of 7m. This form of nomenclature is common to all the company’s telescopic handlers.
Equipped with a 100hp Deutz engine and being just 2m wide, the telehandler will offer more capability of the normal front loader on most farms, while being compact enough to fit into sheds – this being helped by its low height, which is also 2m.
The other loader to be featured strongly will be the Multifarmer, which comes in two variants, a 3.4t model and a 4.4t model.
Both versions are equipped with a fully functioning three-point linkage at the rear and a dual speed PTO, enabling them to take on many lighter field tasks.
Nobody at Merlo is pretending that the Multifarmer models are true field tractors which directly replace standard machines – the idea is that they can take on tasks such as tedding or light harrowing, while the main tractors are tied up on bigger jobs.
Both of these telehandlers will be on display at the National Ploughing Championships later this month, with the Merlo team and its new dealers in Ireland on hand to demonstrate the machines to farmers and contractors.
Merlo the company
As part of its first presentation in Ireland, Merlo Ireland was keen to explain a little of the background of the company which has now been in business for 60 years.
The company’s manufacturing philosophy is to keep as much of the work as possible in-house.
It claims to produce 92% of components within the group and is respected for its research and development, with 10% of its staff dedicated to these activities.
It goes so far as to create its own electronics systems with its own software, a huge competitive advantage as it allows for the operating architecture to be designed to suit its own machines rather than be adapted from third party offerings.
This not only ensures that it will work under the conditions it encounters, but also that errors and faults can be quickly identified and corrected by its own engineers.
However, it was pointed out that integration with engine management systems has not always been plain sailing, but it has been satisfactorily achieved so far.
Overall, Merlo tells us that it is not just producing large volumes of machines; there is also the desire to service those machines in the field, bring new ideas to the market and develop the company’s human capital.
