When it comes to efficiently mowing large areas of land, nobody can match Roland Fuchs from Wolhusen in the Swiss canton of Lucerne. He and his team are experts in this field and every year they mow around 7000 hectares of land on behalf of around 35 farmers. He uses four Aebi Terratrac. The new Aebi TT281 has been one of them since April of this year. Each Terratrac clocks up around 700 working hours by the end of a season – this is why reliability and durability are factors that Roland Fuchs very much values.
“Essentially one vehicle is allocated to each driver. With a double wheel at the front and back, we operate on slopes, some of which are very steep. It is therefore important for each handle to be in the perfect position and for the driver to know his machine in precise detail,” explains Roland Fuchs. Everybody of course wants to try out and get to know the new Aebi TT281 because, as Roland Fuchs tells us, although the new implement carrier is the first, it is not the last of its type in his business.
Full power, maximum comfort
Starting with the Aebi TT180, the mowing professionals have been relying on the implement carriers from Aebi for more than ten years. Everybody is very enthused by the new addition of the Aebi TT281: “The Aebi TT281 has been improved in many respects compared to the previous model. Even when you first jump on board, the even better overview of the surrounding area and the attachments is striking,” says Roland Fuchs. The contractor is also very happy with the new armrest: “We are heavily dependent on the weather when it comes to mowing. If the conditions are good, during the high season there will very often be long and intense deployments lasting more than 10 hours. A comfortable workplace is therefore particularly important for safety and to combat fatigue. Not least, we were the people that expressed the wish for a suitable armrest to Aebi. We very much appreciate the fact that Aebi responds to the feedback from its customers and always endeavours to implement it in the best way possible.”
“We use the Aebi implement carriers for mowing assignments 90% of the time. We work with a mower unit with a working width of 3.2 metres and a conditioner at the rear. This requires a great deal of power – more precisely at least 100 HP. No other machine in the same category gets anywhere near to matching the performance of the Aebi TT281,” says Roland Fuchs with conviction. The contractor cannot afford costly downtimes during the high season: “The Aebi machines are quality products. In addition, the high-tech machines are regularly serviced. Together with the close partnership and support of the sales team in Switzerland, we can rely 100% on the Aebi Terratrac.”
As one season ends, another one begins
And what do the Aebi TTs do when it is not the mowing season? “During the winter months, the implement carriers are serviced and prepared for the new season. Here too we notice how the Aebi TT281 has become even easier to service. The engine compartment is generally tidier and the important equipment is easier to access. This means that servicing and maintenance has become much simpler. We deploy one Terratrac at a time for winter maintenance. As the season for us lasts from March to November, the periods when the machines are out of service are relatively short anyway.”
Roland Fuchs has been working as a contractor in the region for ten years now. “It all began with a neighbour’s broken tractor during the mowing season,” he recalls. The present-day contractor spontaneously took over the mowing tasks for the unlucky chap. Instead of replacing the machine, his colleague decided to outsource the work entirely and thus became the first customer for Fuchs. Today Roland Fuchs and his team has taken over almost all the mowing work within a radius of ten kilometres around Wolhusen.
We wish Roland Fuchs and his team successful, safe deployments and of course lots of enjoyment with the “pioneer”, the Aebi TT281.