'Perfect view at work with the Valtra N155'

Good view of the harvester without tiring posture and yet all controls within easy reach. The new N155 is the second Valtra which for that reason was purchased by contracting company Gebr. the great. The hydraulic performance and the tight turning circle also fit perfectly with their work in flower bulb cultivation.

"If you spend 700 to 800 hours a year on the harvester, comfort for the driver is very important", Ruth de Groot begins his story. "Valtra is the only brand where you can turn the chair quite a bit and still have good access to your feet. And all the important controls rotate with the armrest with you. This way the work can be easily sustained and you also have good view of the harvester." When we later see the new N155 and the two-year-old N174 in action on the field, the drivers are indeed relaxed.

Strong hydraulics
Together with his brother Henk and wife Tilly, De Groot owns the contracting company Gebr. de Groot in Noordwijkerhout. From a brand new business premises, the company provides all common activities for flower bulb companies in the southern sandy area (the Haarlem-Leiden-Alphen aan de Rijn triangle). Root growers in the Katwijk region also belong to de Groot's clientele.

Wasp Waist Frame
Working in the flower bulb sector entails a number of specific requirements. In addition to the comfort requirements for the harvesting work (De Groot has no fewer than ten harvesting machines in different versions and bed widths), the expensive bulb plots are literally used to the edge. Narrow headlands are the result. "Thanks to the wasp waist, the N155 still runs very tight", says De Groot, who has already spent the necessary hours on the new Valtra spent. "And the quick-steer function is very useful on headlands." 

Maximum oil yield
De Groot also noticed the hydraulic performance of the tractor. "We have a self-designed box changer on one of our harvesters and it requires quite a bit of hydraulic power. The previous tractor almost choked on it, but the Valtra doesn't budge. That engine is really tough. You have a lot of horsepower anyway for such a thing." One compact tractor. And the load-sensing pump can handle all hydraulic functions with 160 liters per minute." The lifting capacity of 8 tons (in all positions) has not yet fully appealed to de Groot, but he has noticed that the air-suspended front axle is not pulled 'out of the suspension' when lifting. "And rightly so."

Innovative
The user-friendly operation of the Valtra De Groot considers N155 an important plus for a contracting company. "I am not someone who necessarily wants to discover all the secrets of all the buttons", the contractor laughs, "but the functions I need speak for themselves. It is very intuitive. And the staff is also positive about it; everyone has I've ridden the Valtra before."

De Groot says he is trying to set the tone in the area with his contracting company. "We are a bit stubborn and try to be innovative. For example, we were the first in the area to switch from box harvesters to tipper harvesters. We don't follow the crowd. And Valtra fits in well with that."