High-class races horses and a powerful machine

Electric loader G2200E-X-TRA convinces everybody on a horsefarm in Geldern, lower-rhine-area, Germany

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Here you see noisy machines, which do the daily work in the stables, transport feed, straw bales and other loads or discard of manure and at the same time there are sensitive high-value and noble sports horses - this is quite a contradiction. The new E-loader from  TOBROCO-GIANT represents a contemporary solution to this dilemma: He doesn’t rank behind the diesel-models at all concerning power, compact measures or manoeuvrability and at the same time does his work without emissions and noise, which human beings and animals estimate quite a lot.

Since many years, Dietmar Hax and his father Josef run (besides a nursery) the intensive breeding and training of sport horses on their native farm in Geldern in the lower-rhine-area. At this farm the history of horses goes back to as much as 100 years, with more ambitions since the 1960s. These days, not only insiders know the name of „Chagall H“ and his successful Svedish rider Michell Hagmann Hassink or and approved stallions natured on the farm as „De Niro’s Erbe H“, who tell a story of success about the horses that have been trained on the Hax’s farm All horses are educated by Dietmar Hax up to the Grand Prix level, a lot of them have been and still are internationally successful. The clients that come to the horse farm to find their personally congenial riding or tournament horse are equivalently discerning and with international origin.

Horse breeding is hard work

In this family business all participants know that horse breeding is hard work, every day. Besides father and son Hax the whole family and several employees and helpers take care  of the well-being of the horses, so they can live and grow in best conditions and are looked after perfectly. It becomes obvious in many different ways how much heart and soul is put into breeding and educating of the horses. It is no exaggeration that there is a deep emotional connection between Hax and his horses, so that each sale also means the letting go of an beloved protégé.

The general philosophy is to let the animals live the most natural way possible. This includes besides the individual training the spending of a lot of time on the large meadows, as well as the use of natural and gentle remedies in case a horse should hurt itself. As important is the close and trusting cooperation with the vet.

GIANT works on this farm for a longer time

A few years ago the first GIANT wheel loader, a D337T, has been taken to machinery of the horse farm. In the meantime the electric wheel loader G2200E X-TRA has been taken additionally on  the basis of a long-term lease. The compact and agile loader with the small turning circle is used to muck out the stables, to transport and pile up the straw or feed into the stables or onto the meadows and for a lot more other little tasks. „Everybody is able to use this machine, you just get on and get something done for which we formerly used to take a wheelbarrow“, says Dietmar Hax.

“The GIANT which we have been using since a few years has quickly replaced our tractor, because this machine has been too large and unfunctional moving around the stables. We then had to take out the whole wall of the stables when we had to remove the manure, these days we only have to open the doors for the GIANT to transport stuff into and out of the stables. Also, it is easy to drive from one stable into the other, for example to transport straw bales  or feed.“

Characteristics of the E-GIANT

The G2200E is equipped with a 48V-lithium-ionen-battery as a standard, which takes the room where on the other model the engine is located. With the help of two separate electric engines, one with 6,5 kW for the power unit of the machine and one 12 kW-engine for the hydraulics, there is always enough power to execute all the different chores precisely. The X-TRA-model has a tipping height of 2,45 meters and a tipping weight of 2.200 kg - this way it is perfectly prepared for all the hard work on the farm. TOBROCO-GIANT offers three different lithium-Ionen-batteries as a choice with different performances of 260 Ah, 390 Ah or 520 Ah. Depending of the model of the battery one load is sufficient to be able to work without a break for 4, 6 or 8 hours within normal working conditions. This Dietmar Hax considers as fully sufficient, because the battery can - if needed - also be loaded during the day, at a time when the loader is not needed.

A lot of advantages

Dietmar Hax is convinced that his customers have every right to expect that on the horse farm not only the general equipment as stables, meadows and the riding hall fits to the high-class horses, but also the machines which are used and therefore can show the competence of the farmers. The electric loader G2200E X-TRA has shown a lot of advantages in use: The work in the stable cannot be interrupted all the times when a customer, who often comes a long way to have a close look at the horses, is on the farm. With the quietly working E-loader this is no problem at all. „This is a huge advantage: We can train horses, and give advice to our customers on the farm while all the time the stable work and the care for the horses can go on without any restrictions, because nobody is getting disturbed by the electric loader“, recounts Hax his experience.

Also, it is for employees and animals all the same very comfortable, if there are no emissions any more within the stable. What is more, the loader really fits well into the sustainability concept of the company. Not only the animals should be offered a tender and loving surrounding without disturbances, but also the employees are meant to feel good working there. This attitude against sustainability is also shown in another place. The whole roof of the stable is full of solar panels, so that the electric loader can be used with the help of self-made and CO2-neutral energy. „If you have an electric loader, you can use it a lot without a bad conscience, because your are driving emission-free“, says Dietmar Hax.

At the beginning there have been fears that an electric loader would not provide the needed power for all the different tasks or would just show himself not strong enough. Or that the battery wouldn’t work long enough. All these fears have been destroyed while working with the new GIANT. „We found out that the electric loader is as powerful as the diesel-powered model and offers at the same time the advantages we have named before“, explains Hax.

Still, the higher costs of investments surely make a point. According to Dietmar Hax it would be great, if German politics not only gave subsidies to electric cars, but also to E-machines like it is done in other European countries for quite a while. Then the E-loader would become more and more common in horse farms, nurseries and farms - all for the sake of man and animal.