Olly Harrison’s 25-Year Merlo Story

Perched on the outskirts of Liverpool, Olly Harrison runs an agricultural and contracting business. Managing 1,500 acres of arable land alongside 1,000 acres of contract combining, the operation features a commercial-grade store for oilseed rape and other arable products, a straw-baling enterprise, and a wood-processing business that handles around 4,000 tonnes of wood chip a year for biomass.

With operations spanning four different yards and running flat out 365 days a year, materials handling isn't just a secondary chore; it’s a necessity of the entire business. For 25 years, Olly has pinned his faith on the Merlo range of telehanders, made in Italy. We caught up with him to find out why a three-machine Merlo fleet from RVW Pugh is an excellent fit for this multifaceted business.

Q: You’ve been running Merlo telehandlers for 25 years now. Where did that relationship start, and what makes them stand out from the rest of the market?

Olly Harrison: Our Merlo story started back in 1995 at the Paris Agricultural Show. At the time, nobody else had the visibility that Merlo offered. We got talking to a guy on the stand, who was probably the only English person there, and he explained how Merlo only focuses on telehandlers. They aren't trying to build backhoe loaders or tractors; they pour all their engineering, their research and development into one thing.

We looked at how they designed the engine layout and the ring steel chassis, and we just thought, "When we can afford one, that's the make we're getting." In 2001, we bought a second-hand seven-metre model to replace a front-end tractor loader, and the difference was night and day.

We’ve tried other competitive machines on demo over the years, but they just feel clumsy and unresponsive. They lack a counterweight in the back. You get a competitor’s 10-metre machine out, and the boom goes out further, but the back wheels tip up with an empty bucket! Merlos are just balanced right.

Q: You currently run three Merlo machines, two 38.10s and a compact 27.6. How do you split the workload between them?

Olly: We put around 1,000 hours a year on each machine, that's 3,000 telehandler hours a year across the business, which is actually more than our tractors do. They work seven days a week. Even on Sundays, they are busy moving wood chip, filling drying bays, or loading the biomass boilers.

We prefer the 38.10 model for our front-line work because it gives you a 10-metre reach on the same compact chassis size as a standard seven-metre machine. That extra reach is an absolute gamechanger. In our commercial grain stores, the higher you can shove the material, the more grain you can store in the sheds.

When baling straw, that 10-metre boom allows us to stack bales safely in steps rather than a sheer face, preventing stacks from falling down.

The difference between a seven-meter and a ten-meter machine is absolute chalk and cheese. Once you’ve experienced that extra reach on a standard chassis, we could never go back.

Q: You also have a smaller Merlo 27.6, which you affectionately call the "Mini Merlo." What role does that play on the farm?

Olly: We’ve had the 27.6 for about four years now. We initially tried a compact machine from another manufacturer when a builder friend lent us one. We realised how handy a small machine was, and because Merlo made one that fitted all our existing buckets and attachments, it was an easy choice.

It’s actually my favourite machine because it sits so low to the ground, you don’t climb into it, you just step straight in and out. It’s perfect when you're doing jobs like spreading fertiliser, and you're constantly hopping in and out of the cab.

We can throw the 27.6 onto the back of a low loader with the seed on the front, drive to an outlying field, and it becomes a seamless, one-man job to load the drill. It completely frees up the bigger handlers to stay in the grain store or move straw. Plus, because our yards feature old, traditional brick buildings that were never designed for modern big kit, the 27.6 manoeuvres around them like a dream.

Also, I love the compact boom design on the 27.6, it means the operator can actually see through and underneath the boom structure, allowing a clear view of all four wheels, including the back right, from the seat. That’s incredibly important when manoeuvring around tight areas and in a busy farmyard.

Q: Telehandlers face brutal conditions during harvest, dealing with intense dust, debris, and long hours. How do the Merlos handle that environment?

Olly: The cabs are brilliant, the air conditioning is great, and the reversible fan system is a massive bonus. When you're driving flat out across a field with straw blowing everywhere, it naturally lands on top of the engine bay. Being able to reverse the fan and instantly fling that debris off on the move is a massive safety and maintenance benefit.

They are also incredibly easy to drive. We have five or six different operators jumping in and out of the same machines every day. The three-pedal automotive setup with the hydrostatic transmission and inching pedal gives you incredibly precise control. Anyone can jump in them and safely get to work.

Q: How do you find the hydraulic performance and cycle times when you're working under pressure?

Olly: The hydraulic flow rate is fantastic because the oil flow allows you to multitask. You can boom out, lift up, and tip the bucket all at the same time. Some machines on the market simply can’t handle multiple functions at once, which slows you down when you need to be fast.

We even use the bigger machines for moving combine headers around because they have hitches on the back and are so manoeuvrable.

Q: How long have you been dealing with RVW Pugh, and how is their backup?

Olly: We’ve been buying our Merlos through RVW Pugh for probably the last 10 years or more. We are very happy with them. In the early days of running the brand with previous dealers, we used to have minor starting issues that came down to the machines not being Pre-Delivery Inspected (PDI) properly. We simply don't have those issues with Pughs; the machines arrive exactly as they should.

When it comes to service, we just get in touch directly with Paul, their fitter. We'll text him a question, and he’ll text back straight away saying, "Try this," or "I know exactly what that is, I’ll grab the part and see you later." We've never had a big issue or a machine broken down for long. The service is excellent.

To keep our fleet completely fresh and reliable, we take advantage of the two-year warranty and swap the machines every two years. Merlos holds fantastic resale value at that age, so the math completely adds up for us to keep running new kit.

Q: If another arable or contracting farmer called you up asking for an honest opinion on buying a Merlo, what would you tell them?

Olly: I’d tell them simply that we love ours. If you can afford it, make sure you get the model with the 10-metre boom. It’s a completely different class of machine.