The 1160 eHoftrac for large animals

Elephant, tiger & co. in Copenhagen Zoo.

The first production machine, which was produced by the Weidemann production plant in Korbach from the electrically operated 1160 eHoftrac, has trodden a broad path to Denmark. The zoo in Copenhagen has been a Weidemann customer for years and, after the presentation of this innovative machine, decided on it immediately. The benefits of the eHoftrac for a zoo are also all too obvious: Zero emission working in the animal houses or open pens brings an enormous improvement to the living conditions of the valuable and sometimes rare animals. No exhaust gases, no engine noise – the zoo's employees can work around the animals without disturbing them. Also, for the employees themselves, this machine naturally brings an improvement to their working conditions.

Allan Oliver, who works in the elephant house with the eHoftrac, is enthusiastic about the electric drive concept: "The machine has lovely handling, it is dynamic and powerful and absolutely ideal for all our tasks. The daily round in the zoo begins at 7 a.m. – the visitors start to arrive from 10 a.m. onwards. As a rule, we try to complete as much work as possible in this time. However, with the quiet eHoftrac, with zero emissions, we can also work while the business is open and without disturbing our visitors. An advantage which we never had before with the diesel machine."

The charging station for the eHoftrac is in the elephant house. From here, it is used daily in the animal houses and in the open pens for feeding tasks, excrement collection and loading and cleaning tasks. The elephants always stay in the house at night. In order that the animals can be sure of sleeping at night, the eHoftrac shovels up large heaps of sand every day. The sanded floor is bound with an egg, in order to be better able to give up the humidity. With its tipping load of 1.3 tonnes, the machine can transport and lift even the heavy square bales of straw. Loading and stacking tasks up to an overall working height of 3.44 m are possible.

Robert Kjaergaard of Stemas Maskinsalg A/S sees good potential in Denmark for the eHoftrac: "With the new eHoftrac, we have made demonstration tours in our sales territory and these have shown us that this drive concept is very interesting for the industrial, gardening, and above all pleasure parks with visitors sectors, in addition to the classical agricultural and equestrian fields. "The machine ran well for us and our expectations are commensurably high."