The German Federal Institute for Real Estate has chosen the new Unimog generation: A Unimog U 318 in action at "Pomellen", a former border crossing between Germany and Poland

• The chosen one: a professional implement carrier from the new Unimog generation

• Maintaining roads and outdoor areas on the grounds of the German Federal Institute for Real Estate at the former border crossing to Poland

• A U 318 efficiently tackles year-round duties using existing implements

The German Federal Institute for Real Estate ("Bundesanstalt für Immobilienaufgaben", or BImA) in Rostock has put its first Unimog of the new BlueTec 6 generation into action to deal with maintenance and repair tasks at the former border crossing of Pomellen. The former checkpoint near Nadrensee on the border with Poland is also a works support base for the BImA. It is located on the A11 motorway in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania and includes a 20 km road network. The new Unimog is used there for all tasks connected with year-round maintenance of the road network and its surroundings such as embankments, verges, fallow land, ditches, rainwater reservoirs and open land.

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The requirements for the service vehicle in Pomellen are, in brief: the new Unimog has to take over all the tasks previously performed by the now ageing 1994 Unimog U 1450, including using all of its existing implements. One of the main reasons for the BImA choosing the Unimog U 318 was its extensive standard equipment, including the long platform, EasyDrive infinitely variable synergetic traction drive system, high axle loads and the vehicle's high manoeuvrability. The order was placed and processed by the local Unimog general distributor, Harald Bruhns Land-, Forst-, Gewerbe- und Kommunaltechnik GmbH in Karstädt.

Efficient all-year-round operation using existing equipment

In Pomellen, efficient winter service work, such as snow-clearing, salting and gritting, is carried out using an SAB 17 wet salter and a CP 2 snow plough, both manufactured by ASH Aebi Schmidt. The Unimog's three-cell dual-circuit hydraulic system with proportional control features snow plough load relief which automatically lifts the snow plough when there is a change of direction, thus considerably reducing the workload.

When selecting the equipment for the new U 318, right from the start, the focus was on being able to continue using all of the existing implements, both for summer maintenance operations and mowing work, as well as for winter service with a snow plough and a salter and gritter. Equipping the vehicle with a front mounting plate, a front power take-off and hydraulic plug connections at the front and rear of the vehicle were both a requirement and a good choice: they made it possible to use the existing Dücker UNA 500 mower boom, which is used to trim the greenery along the roadways. Equally made possible was the efficient use of a Dücker UMK 21 front mower to maintain fallow and open areas of ground.

Material transportation for maintaining roads and outdoor areas

The new Unimog equipment carrier also does an excellent job of transport tasks involving the use of a trailer, as well as other towing work: behind the driver's cab there is a platform which can be tilted in three directions, so that – besides transporting tools – it can also carry loose building materials such as gravel or sand. In winter, the salt container is fitted on the platform. If larger quantities of material are needed, the Unimog U 318 can also be used as a towing vehicle with a variety of trailer types. These can be towed using the truck trailer coupling or the ball head coupling also fitted at the rear with up to 3.5 t towing capacity. A dual-circuit trailer brake system ensures safe braking.