Wheel Loaders/Farming Simulator 17
A Wheel Loader is a type of Vehicle in Farming Simulator 17. Specifically, it is one of four different types of Loaders - vehicles designed for lifting, shoveling, and otherwise manipulating materials and cargo. Wheel Loaders in particular are designed for the heaviest duties.
At first glance, Wheel Loaders appear similar to Front-Loading Tractors, but they are not tractors at all. A Wheel Loader lacks a tractor's Three-point hitch, and cannot power any implements even when it can tow them. It is therefore incapable of doing any field work.
On the other hand, Wheel Loaders come fitted with a powerful lifting arm that can attach to very large Loading Tools. Wheel Loaders can lift enormous quantities of any cargo, but their primary specialty is shoveling or leveling Silage and Manure piles. A Wheel Loader's weight gives it excellent stability when lifting heavy cargo, and it can be increased even further by installing a Front Twin Wheels upgrade.
List of Wheel Loaders
Farming Simulator 17 features only two Wheel Loaders by default. They can both be found in the "Wheel Loaders" section of the store.
| Name | Price | Maintenance cost per day |
Horsepower | Max Speed (km/h) |
Fuel Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liebherr L 538 | 145,000 | 180 | 156 | 40 | 195 |
| JCB 435S | 182,000 | 340 | 230 | 40 | 230 |
Wheel Loader Tools
Farming Simulator 17 offers four different Loading Tools for Wheel Loaders. These can all be found in the "Wheel Loaders" category at the store. Wheel Loader Tools will only attach to a Wheel Loader's arm - they cannot be fitted to any other vehicle in the base game.
Common Features: $5 Maintenance Cost per Day
| Name | Price | Tool Type | Capacity | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Magsi Universal Shovel | 3,600 | Bucket | 6,000 | 247 |
| Magsi Wheel Loader Pallet Fork | 1,900 | Pallet Fork | -- | 398 |
| Magsi Wheel Loader Log Fork | 3,800 | Log Fork | -- | 671 |
| Lizard Silage Fork | 4,100 | Manure Fork | 10,000 | 401 |
Additionally, one model of Leveler can be attached to Wheel Loaders, but it must be manually modified for this purpose. This tool can be found in the "Levelers" category at the store.
| Name | Price | Tool Type | Capacity | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holaras MES 400 | 6,800 | Leveler | 6,000 | 1,293 |
Comparison with other Loaders
Wheel Loaders are one of four different types of Loaders. Below is a list of advantages and disadvantages of Wheel Loaders over the other three categories.
Advantages
- Large Tools: Wheel Loaders have access to some of the largest tools in the game, primarily shoveling tools. They can carry enormous masses of materials when needed. They are also the only type of Loader that can attach a Leveler.
- Weight Stability: Wheel Loaders are extremely heavy compared to most other machines. This gives them exceptional stability even when lifting very heavy cargo.
- Powerful Engines: The Wheel Loader models available in the base game are as powerful as Medium Tractors. This is primarily useful for scaling steep Piles, particularly the Silage piles in your Silage Bunkers.
Disadvantages
- Difficult Steering: Wheel Loaders are very large and ungainly machines. They are very difficult to control in tight spaces, and cannot do any precision work without extremely good driving skills. Furthermore, both Wheel Loader models in the game are articulated, which makes controlling them even more tricky.
- Poor Acceleration: Wheel Loaders are very heavy for their engine power. The result is that they accelerate very slowly. Their top speed is not terrible, but it takes many seconds to accelerate up to it. This can also cause problems when trying to tow heavy trailers - though Wheel Loaders aren't really designed for that job.
- Poor Tool Variety: Wheel Loaders can only attach 5 different tools (see list above), with three of those tools designed strictly for shoveling and leveling. They are mostly designed with only one job in mind: Shoveling Silage and Manure.