Case Study - Batty Contractors Pty Ltd
Angus Batty from Batty Contractors Pty Ltd in Australia, recently purchased a Green Climber LV600 as an investment for his business. The task was clearing 38,000 square metres of light and dense vegetation.
We recently had a chat with him about how it's going and we thought it was worth sharing with you.
It has definitely been the perfect job to test the Green Climbers limits and see how they stand up to the challenge!
This job required clearing creeks and slashing light, and dense vegetation to thick tree trunks with the forestry head and then using the flail head for a perfect park finish. This job took Angus three days to complete and the Green Climber stood up to the test with no problems at all! He has even fitted a LED light bar to the machine so he has been working into the night.
The burning question I had for Angus Batty was why would you benefit from using a Green Climber on this job? The reply was “As simple as it is… no one is in danger” You can also do this work using either a tractor or a skid steer but the operator is always at risk. The operator has a family to go home to so why take the risk when you can use a Green Climber to clear your land using remote controlled technology. When clearing light or dense vegetation to thick tree trunks his forestry head can handle it with ease, it is remote controlled so the operator is always standing back out of the way of this machine in a safe position.
The remote control system can reach a distance of up to 1,000 ft and controls start/stop engine, acceleration, and all the movements of the attachment. Furthermore, it has a self-correcting steering system that, in the case of a very steep slope it can be used to correct the direction. The front-rear-left-right movements are commanded by a single joystick; this allows the operator to always have a free hand to use for other machine commands. There is a battery charger with extra battery in the Green Climber cab. A freshly charged battery (always handy) allows minimal machine downtime.
Angus also commented on the floating function on the cutting head. This allows the head to follow the contours of the ground therefore allowing you to clear ditches, creeks, and banks with ease. He said, “this machine gets you into those tricky areas with ease and with zero risk involved.” The flail cutting unit is mounted on a pivoting axel which allows the mower to follow the ground level independently to the rubber tracks. The fully hydraulic floating system is unique to the green climber and eliminates mechanical stress to the implement lift system. The flail can be set to free floating up and down to follow the ground contours. Alternatively, you can raise the flail to the desired cut heigh with the hydraulic cylinders, which allows free upward travel and memorised height in the down position.
When clearing the fire breaks Angus was able to get the Green Climber into the challenging locations to clear vegetation that is a fire hazard. Challenging places to get to are steep hillsides with scrub growing on them, creek banks are also a steep and challenging place to mow – but with the Green Climbers low centre of gravity they are able to operate on slopes up to 60° without rolling! Having the ability to operate on slopes this steep in any direction allows the Green Climber to access previously inaccessible areas!
The widening tracks on the Green Climber make it almost unstoppable. In extreme situations if the regular tract width is not enough to avoid capsizing risk, the track width can be increased by 400mm to gain stability and balance. The tracks are widened by the remote control. Widening the tracks combines with a low centre of gravity means the machine can work on slopes up to 60 degrees!
We all know that maintaining areas that are unsafe puts yourself and others lives at risk, over 20,000 people are injured by mowers each year, so if you would like to check out the remote controlled Green Climber please follow the link below to book a demo!