Farming with Palfinger is not just a job, it’s a way

Agriculture is the heartbeat of most of the small towns in South Africa, with not only the people’s livelihoods depending on it, but also a majority of overseas markets that import South African goods. With product demands growing around the world, farmers have to find ways to utilize their farming equipment in more productive ways, to meet the markets demands.

PALFINGER’S local dealer identified the need in the agricultural market for a crane that can be attached and removed from a standard agricultural tractor, without restricting the tractors normal utilization. As the local PALFINGER dealer started researching and designing possible lifting solutions for agriculture, they found the need to be more extensive than just cranes. There was a need for a complete agricultural tractor lifting solution. Farmers wanted to be able to use one tractor for all their lifting equipment requirements, that included a crane with a quick hitch attachment and a tractor trailer with a hook loader for their all-round transporting needs.

The engineering team of the local PALFINGER dealer met with a local engineering firm and together they designed and built a demountable console that gave farmers the opportunity to effortlessly connect a PALFINGER loader crane to the tractor when they needed it, while the tractors can still be utilized for other farming applications in its standard configuration. They also designed a bale grab with a quick hitch attachment that fits on PALFINGER loader cranes.

The engineering team then had to focus on the second part of the customers demand that included a tractor trailer fitted with a PALFINGER hookloader. The hookloader trailer needed to be able to perform a tipping function and transport interchangeable bodies for different applications as demanded by various seasonal jobs on the farm. Depending on the season, some of the tasks that needed to be performed could include the transport of water tanks, liquid fertilizer tanks, moving equipment and machinery around the farm using a flat deck body and the offloading of bulk goods using the tipping function.

The biggest breakthrough came when the engineering team of the local PALFINGER dealer revealed it’s possible for a farmer to use an agricultural tractor fitted with a PALFINGER loader crane and hookloader trailer, as a combination at the same time, thus offering the farmer even more utilization of his agricultural tractor lifting solution.

For more information on this project or similar projects, contact the local dealer in South Africa directly by visiting their website: www.palfinger.co.za or via the Sales- & Service Search.

Farming with Palfinger is not just a job, it’s a way of life.