The Solis brand is one of the latest to arrive on the Irish tractor market. It is imported and handled by D & S Machinery Ltd in Dublin. D & S is also responsible for the ARGO brands of Landini and McCormick.
The Solis 90 is a basic specification tractor and will likely compete with brands such as Tumosan, Hattat, Zetor and Ursus. It is a sector of the market that is becoming very competitive and is likely to become even more so with talks of Turkish brand Armatrac entering the market in 2015.
The Solis range is manufactured by Sonalika, which was established in 1969 and has a manufacturing base in the Punjab region in northern India. The firm has its corporate office in New Delhi. Annual tractor production totals around 90,000 units – around 300 tractors per day.
D&S offers five models – Solis 20, Solis 75-4WD cabbed and cabless, Solis 75-2WD, and Solis 90. Solis will launch 100 and 110 HP models in 2015 according to D&S.
Solis 90
D&S loaned us the flagship model, a Solis 90 equipped with Irish-built Rossmore FL45 front loader. This size and horsepower is proving popular in Ireland. The Solis 90 is not a terribly big tractor, similar in size to the Tumosan 8085 and Zetor Major 80 we tested in 2014. In fact, specifications are similar throughout.
It is quite a smart-looking tractor from the outside. Its bonnet is a one-piece unit made from pressed steel. This is supported by gas struts and hinged at the rear.
The bonnet opens by key and is fully lockable. It lifts clear of the engine bay to expose both the engine and its cooling package for maintenance or servicing.
The familiar-looking cab is produced by Turkish company Hisarlar, which also supplies cabs to CNH. It has wide doors and curved corner section windows directly behind. Air conditioning comes as standard.
The engine is produced in-house by Soils, but bears a striking resemblance to those used in Zetor’s UR1 series. And in fact it is derived from Zetor’s engine design, with individual cylinder heads and rocker covers.
The Solis 90 features a 4.1 litre Stage 3B ITL four-cylinder, turbo charged and inter-cooled engine. This develops 90hp according to the manufacturer. To meet the latest round of emission regulations Solis will have a Stage 4 engine available this year.
From the engine back, the Solis is all-Indian built Carraro with Carraro transmission, lift and rear axles. This is an all-mechanical unit providing 12 speeds in forward and 12 speeds in reverse. Three sticks provide three ranges and four speeds on the driver’s right while a forward-reverse shuttle lever is to the driver’s left.
A dry dual-clutch provides clutching for transmission and PTO function. PTO speeds on offer are 540rpm and Eco-540rpm, useful spec on a tractor of this size. A lever beside the handbrake lever provides PTO clutch function.
A floor-mounted T-lever on the left of the seat controls four-wheel drive. Incidentally, the front axle is also a Carraro unit.
The Solis 90 is not 40km/hr-rated so there is no four-wheel braking, again in keeping with other manufacturers in this sector. A trailer brake is standard spec.
Three-point linkage is also mechanical with a lever for draft control and a lever for position control. Two further levers behind these operate two double-acting spool valves. Rossmore had fitted a joystick control lever to the driver’s right to operate the loader.
Lift capacity is quoted at 2,500kg while hydraulic pump capacity is rated at 47.7 litres per min.
At the rear of the tractor there is a lever for selecting PTO speeds. There is no external three-point linkage control though. The hitch used is from Dromone Engineering and features a removable PTO guard to aid attaching a PTO shaft.
Tyres on our test Solis 90 were Agrimax 468/85-R30s on the rear and on the front were Agrimax 320/85-R24s.
The FL45 Rossmore loader was equipped with a third hydraulic service for operating a bale handler or shear grab but no soft-ride.
To work
Robust steps lead into a quite spacious cab. The doors are wide but for larger operators like myself could do with longer gas struts to allow them open wider.
There is a small step in the floor which presumably helps keep the cab height down. Overall it is pleasant and roomy. Decent floor covering, side mouldings and dash assembly give a well-built feeling to the Solis 90’s cab construction.
A simple and clear analogue dash provides all the important info – rpm, fuel and temperature levels plus PTO speed. An adjustable steering wheel caters for the dimensions of most operators.
Forward visibility is good for general work and loader work. However, there is no clear roof panel for loader work at height, causing a view problem for the operator.
One set of controls operates both the heating and air conditioning but it is not obvious how they work.
To the side the large doors and curved rear corner windows provide excellent visibility. The downside of this cab design is a small rear window with pillars either side.
There are some small pockets moulded into the side covers and there is some decent room behind the seat. A passenger seat in the rear corner allows the passenger to put their feet behind the seat.
On the road the Solis 90 is not particularly fast with a top speed between 33km/hr and 35km/hr. Despite the loader not being equipped with soft ride, the Solis was remarkably comfortable. It is also very steady and stable on the road. Decent mirrors left and right plus an interior rear view mirror add to comfort in use.
It is likely that a large proportion of those sold here will be with loaders, and the FL45 is a good match for the Solis 90. It was well able to handle a silage bale, but was perhaps a little light in the rear and would benefit from some wheel weights. A decent steering lock combined with short wheelbase and compact size made it ideal around smaller yards.
Loader operation was on the slow side at lower engine rpm. Oil flow of most open centre hydraulic systems is quoted at rated engine rpm, which does mean some revving in order to bring loader speed up.
We hitched it to both a bale trailer and small yard trailer. The latter was no biggie for it and it comfortably handled the bale trailer with 14 bales of straw on board.
Hitching to the trailer was not bad without a telescopic hitch. Dromone Engineering has cut slots into its PTO guard which allow the operator to see the pickup hook.
The engine proved a very gutsy performer, albeit a shake loud at flat out revs. The Carraro gearbox was nice to navigate and the left-hand stick forward reverse shuttle worked nicely.
Despite having just 12 gears forward and reverse, the ranges and speeds were well suited to the tasks we performed around the farm.
Service
The bonnet rises to expose the engine’s cooling package and service items. The addition of the loader makes access a bit trickier, but that it nearly always the case regardless of loader or tractor manufacturer.
Engine oil dipstick was easy to get to, as was the radiator header tank, air filter and radiators for cleaning.
One curiosity was the diesel filler. This was located at the rear of the tractor quite high up, but the tank is a modern saddle-type unit behind the left-hand wheel and steps under the cab.
Overall
The Solis 90 was a comfortable performer, and seemed well put together. It provides farmers looking for a basic specification tractor with another option.
If specifying a loader on the tractor, it would be more comfortable to operate with wheel weights. The handbrake was difficult to use and needs re-positioning but no major gripes other than that.
An interesting feature was that in addition to the door, the bonnet and fuel cap were also lockable.
The Solis 90 with Rossmore FL45 is priced at €40,000 including vat. It is also available in two-wheel drive and you can get the smaller Solis 75 without a cab.
Thanks to D&S Machinery Ltd for supplying the Solis 90 for test – check out www.solistractors.ie
Likes
√ All-mechanical simplicity.
√ Cab nice and well put together for this class of tractor.
√ Transmission simple and well geared.
√ Dromone hitch.
√ Lockable bonnet and fuel tank.
Dislikes
X No external lift control.
X Handbrake position.
X Loader slow at low engine rpm.
X Air conditioning and heating a mystery to operate.
SHARING OPTIONS