Volvo Penta and ROPA collaborated for the Stage V D16 on harvesters

Volvo Penta and ROPA, a leading agriculture equipment manufacturer, have been long working together, collaborating for the development of engines capable to push the machines made by the German manufacturer. One of them, the huge Tiger 6 beet harvester awarded with the Red Dot Design Award back in 2018, benefits from Volvo Penta Stage V D16 off-road engine, with 515 kW power transmission, 6 cylinders and 16.12 litre displacement.

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ROPA has field-tested the D16 in two machines last autumn, clocking over 400 operational hours combined.

The risks of engine failure

Michael Gruber, head of technology at ROPA, commented: «During the very short harvest season, many of our machines run 1,000 or more hours. If the engine fails or performs poorly then that means loss of productivity and income for farmers. Therefore, the engines in our machines need to be fuel-efficient, have high power, high torque, high performance at low speeds, a good service network and outstanding durability. It’s a lot to ask for, but this is why we chose Volvo Penta. We told Volvo Penta early in the development what we needed to get the machine running at optimum performance and economy. Volvo Penta took this request seriously and optimized the engine for us. As a result, the Tiger 6 harvests sugar beets with ease».

Volvo Penta and ROPA: a long-lasting collaboration

ROPA first began installing Volvo Penta engines thirty years ago, and by 1993, all machines were powered by Volvo Penta. These engines are still going strong today.

VOLVO PENTA D16: A ROCK’N’ROLL ENGINE

«When it comes to reliability, we have not encountered any problems with the D16, but this is not surprising. Some of our older engines have run for over 15,000 hours with little or no malfunction. Because of this, we have huge trust that these latest Volvo Penta engines will be just as durable and long-lasting», added Mr Gruber.