Explosive ordinance clearing in the 21st century.

At the Nolte explosive ordnance clearance service, the compact T4512 supports the very large machines in use.

Since 2018, a T4512 has been part of the machine fleet of Nolte Services GmbH from Everswinkel, which specialises in explosive ordnance clearance. The team of highly qualified specialists operates in the Ruhr area and all of Germany. When major construction sites are pending, the five drilling teams march out before the start of construction and secure the new construction site. To do this work, holes up to 20 m deep are drilled at regular intervals in order to detect possible forgotten aircraft bombs using radar or magnetics.

If the excavator driver finds a possible bomb, it must be excavated and dug out. This requires the utmost care and experience, because you can never be certain whether the warhead is still intact. “On average, we find five bombs per year, but we are expecting more in 2019, because we had already dug up three bombs by the start of May”, says Hendrik Nolte, managing partner and CEO. “Once we have dug up the explosive ordnance, the professionals from the State Explosive Ordnance Removal Service take over”. For these tasks, the company Nolte has its own fleet of excavators and low loaders, which sometimes have to run up to 1,500 hours per year in two shifts. “The reliability and flexibility of the machines is the alpha and omega in our industry”, knows the experienced specialist. “That is why we buy new machines almost exclusively”. At the Nolte explosive ordnance clearance service, the compact T4512 supports the very large machines in use. Explosive ordinance clearing in the 21st century. Image middle (from left to right): Patrick Uennigmann (Uennigmann Landmaschinen Metallverarbeitung GmbH), Hendrik Nolte (CEO Nolte Services GmbH), Mr Ogonowski (Nolte Services GmbH). The drilling teams often work in very tight time windows: at night, on the weekend and on holidays so that the construction work can begin as quickly as possible and traffic is not restricted.

Big machines and a little helper.

Hendrik Nolte bought a T4512 from the company Uennigmann for the loading work at the depot. The Weidemann sales partner has its head office just a few hundred metres away from Nolte's head office and the explosives experts already knew of a few orders from the metal processing industry. “Mr Nolte came into my office one day and wanted to take a loader back with him right then and there”, reports Patrick Uennigmann, “so we sat down and configured a machine. He signed on the same day”.

The compact telehandler is now used daily in the Nolte yard. It loads the augers and moves the expansive clay needed to fill the drill holes. In addition, the T4512 has already been used on construction sites. “It is very practical that the small loader can be easily moved on a car trailer”, enthuses Hendrik Nolte. That’s how it came to be used at a train station on the Moselle River, because it is small and manoeuvrable enough to drive on the platforms too. “It is a good machine. You can’t complain about anything”, says Hendrik Nolte pleased about his first Weidemann. In future, a large telehandler with 7 m lifting height and 4 metric tonne payload is on the wish list. It’s a good thing Weidemann is working on it right now.