The wood processing company run by Karl Koppermüller produces 80,000 m3 of wood chippings every year. Why his company relies on three powerful Schäffer telescopic wheel loaders, he tells us on a visit to his location in Gangkofen, Lower Bavaria.
Karl Koppermüller founded his wood chipping company in 2007. Today, he employs six workers, and also his vehicle fleet does not shun comparison. In addition to diverse trucks with wood chippers, containers, and roll off containers, and to sorters and articulated trucks with sliding floors, the vehicle fleet also boasts three Schäffer telescopic wheel loaders. There is no question that these machines stand idly by: the company produces 80,000 m3 of wood chippings every year, and this is growing. The machines must perform a wide range of tasks: contract chipping in woods, at roadsides, and in laybys and compensation areas; log carrying and splitting; bulk transports; piling bulk goods; and filling sorters and containers.
Karl Koppermüller still recalls well the decision to purchase his first Schäffer, the 9310 T, in 2009. “I wanted a compact machine for permanent loading work. Yet the criterion was that the loader can be transported in a container on a truck. The machines can then be deployed flexibly at different locations.” The entrepreneur also had his eye on telehandlers with four wheel steering. “We also tested telehandlers. Although they could lift to a greater height, they fell far short of the manoeuvrability, speed, and visibility of the Schäffer telescopic wheel loaders with centre pivot steering. Also, the Schäffer loaders fitted with a high tilting bucket can pile wood chippings up to a height of nine metres. We decided quickly for Schäffer. No other manufacturer could offer a telescopic wheel loader of this capacity.”
There followed a 9510 T in 2011, a 9630 T in 2016, and a 9660 T in early 2017, replacing the first 9310 T. “Today, these three telescopic wheel loaders are each clocking 400 to 1000 operating hours a year. They are therefore the key machines of our company, where absolute reliability is the be all and end all. Even the first Schäffer made it clear that we can rely on these machines, so our decisions for additional telescopic wheel loaders went very quickly to Schäffer,” explained Karl Koppermüller with obvious satisfaction.
Equally satisfied is his employee Herbert Resch: “It’s fun working with the Schäffer loaders – even after hours. The spacious cabs provide perfect all round visibility, which is very important when manoeuvring in our storage halls and at the sorting machine. The machines’ relatively small turning circle is also an advantage.” Herbert Resch is also delighted with the comfort all telescopic wheel loaders offer. “All loaders are fitted with a sensitive load sensing work circuit, end position damping, air conditioning, and radio equipment.”
It was a matter of course for the proprietor to order all loaders in special paintwork corresponding to his corporate colours. “Like all our other machines, the Schäffer loaders sport a brilliant Koppermüller yellow.” Yet the proprietor had other special wishes. “It was important to me that wood chippings do not penetrate the telescopic arms. After all, we process chip sizes of 15 mm and over. To safeguard this, Schäffer soon found a suitable solution in the form of sealing panels and protective rubber mats. The Schäffer loaders are built exclusively according to specification, so my special wishes could be fulfilled directly at the works.”
Particularly flexible applications are safeguarded by the wide range of tools that can be fitted to and exchanged on the loaders. Besides high tilting buckets, Karl Koppermüller also employs gripper buckets and log splitters. “The gripper bucket helps us to gather together quickly the chippings. The gripper bucket is also suitable for loading and piling trunks, branches, and twigs.” The most powerful tool used together with the loaders is the log splitter. “The hydraulic log splitter comes into play when a trunk is too thick for our chipper. Thanks to the powerful hydraulics of the third control circuit, there are virtually no limits to trunk diameter. The crunching noise generated by the splitter actually expresses best the power of these loaders.”
The facilities produce 80,000 m3 of chippings a year. Yet Karl Koppermüller is aware that the loaders move a far greater quantity. “Basically, our loaders transport many times this. Whether collecting branches at the site, filling the sorter after chipping, removing the sorted chippings, stacking and placing in storage, or filling containers for transport, a Schäffer loader moves every single chip several times.” Karl Koppermüller is impressed particularly by the speed with which the 9660 T and the large capacity high tilting bucket fill his sliding floor articulated truck (bulk capacity 94 cubic metres): “The artic is filled in less than twenty minutes.”
And in future? “If business continues its encouraging trend, I look forward to the new models Schäffer will be offering for its telescopic wheel loaders,” replied Karl Koppermüller with an eye to the next machine demonstration, which will surely be coming soon.
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