In the coldest and least populated region of Norway, CASE Construction Equipment customers fight the elements to keep the roads clear of snow. In the counties of Finnmark and Troms in the Arctic Circle, CASE G-series wheel loaders are starting work to keep the region moving through the winter months.
“We’ve definitely found a niche sector that is expertly serviced by the CASE G-series wheel loaders,” explains Kathrine Dagenborg, Marketing Director for CASE dealer Dagenborg. “Several contractors come to us specifically for snow clearing equipment to manage the contracts awarded to them by both the Norwegian government and private contractors.
The CASE G-series wheel loaders are perfectly suited to this work. We modify the machines ourselves to include a special joystick that delivers oil directly to the snow equipment, giving the power and control that operators need to work in this difficult environment. We also mount additional LED lights to the machines, meaning operators can continue work in harsh snow blizzards.”
Contractors, such as Hammerfest Budservice, have been with Dagenborg for a number of years. Ulf Brynjulfsen, Manager, Hammerfect Budservice explains the nature of the work that his team carries out: “We are a small company, but we have been fortunate to land big contracts with government and public estates during the winter months. If it snows, we need to get the roads cleared by 07:00 so that businesses and members of the public can start moving.
We have to work quickly to get the job done, so speed is hugely important. We use our CASE 721G wheel loader through the night and since late winter 2018, we have already amassed 1400 hours. This machine is the most powerful that we have used but it’s so versatile too. We use it in the summer months to complete a whole range of other lifting and loading assignments, so it continues to earn money for us all year round. Reliability is key, too. Even though our dealer is 550km away in Tromsø, we have support when we need it and fast parts delivery.”
In Tromsø, contractor Harald Nilssen uses a fleet of seven CASE machines on snow clearing jobs, including a CASE 821G wheel loader “I’ve been using CASE wheel loaders since 1984,” states Harald Nilssen, Owner. “But the CASE G-series models take clearing snow to another level. I was lucky enough to be the first to try the new models at the launch in Paris and we put our orders in soon after. When you are working in sub-zero temperatures you need a reliable machine. We’ll be out in the middle of the night with the snow falling in front of us but the machines always start, no matter how cold it gets.
I’ve tried other wheel loader models but CASE machines are the strongest. We work on parking lots, on roads and in waste handling businesses where the volume of traffic often results in compacted snow. Dagenborg fitted our machines with 5.8m snow ploughs with a System 3000 spike system. We can scratch away the hard layers and by doing this we reduce each job by an average of an hour a day. When we go in with the CASE 821G you really see the impact of this larger machine.”
For Svend Ingvar Larsen, Owner of Larsen Maskin & Transport AS, it’s the cab that’s most important: “Snow clearing is a demanding job. You have to concentrate hard for long hours and it can be tiring for the operators. They literally live in the cabs during their working day so we need to keep them as comfortable as possible. The clear view from the back and sides of the cab reduces operator movement and fatigue. They have an unobstructed view of the field behind and they can monitor the snow dune from the side as it grows.
Because the CASE 721G is such a strong machine, it takes operators less time to complete each job. We’ve taken 40 CASE machines in the last 15 years and we use our wheel loaders year-round. We prefer to do our sweeping, material handling and levelling with a wheel loader rather than an excavator because, although these machines are big and powerful, they are versatile too.”
Sture Hagfors, Owners of Fundamentering & Graving in Tromsø says his CASE 721G clocks 250-300 hours a month in snow clearing hours since taking a demo machine last winter: “We’ve used competitor machines in the past but it wasn’t difficult to adapt to the different arrangement of the CASE machines. Our operators have described the machines as calm, strong and easy to use, exactly what you need when you are working in the difficult conditions that we are faced with every day.
It brought a smile to my face when I passed a 19-tonne competitor machine with my 15-tonne CASE 721G. It’s so much more powerful than the competitor machines that we have used and I can pass that benefit directly to my customers by getting the job done faster. We also use the lock-up function between jobs which saves even more time.”
“Many of our customers have been with us for a number of years,” confirms Dagenborg. “This demonstrates, more than anything, the quality of the equipment and the high level of service that they receive from us. Reliability, power and comfort are the key drivers for purchasing a CASE wheel loader and as exclusive CASE dealers in this region we ensure that our customers get all this and more.”