On Saturday September 27, Cor Huibers tree nurseries from the Dutch river delta welcomed anyone who was interested in their business and operating activities. Their young trees are exported to multiple countries in Europe.
Three employees demonstrated the loading process of the company’s semi, consisting of a modern DAF 4×2 tractor and a conventional, tri-axle curtainsider with six super single tires.
Early July, I already spotted Huibers’ 2022 DAF XF 480 FT tractor at a local truck show. It was a stand-alone unit then.
Together with the semi-trailer, the DAF forms a typical 40 tonnes (88,185 lbs) combination for trans-European road transport.
This type of curtainsider is essentially a flatbed trailer with dropsides. For the job at hand, a forklift truck is not needed…
…because the trees are coming from above, so the sliding roof has to be open.
This picture says it all. My kind of still life, it simply has everything.
A young man and his machine, a John Deere 6155R Premium Edition with an Atlas crane.
The trees enter the semi-trailer vertically, but for obvious reasons, that’s not the position in which they travel.
Wooden (work) shoes are truly for all ages. And the natural footwear is highly appropriate in this line of business.
To quote Randy Crawford, ‘One Day I’ll Fly Away’.
In a next episode, we’ll have a look at more rolling tree nursery equipment, a big indoor robot, and all kinds of trees. Lots of trees, utterly orderly arranged.
nice light loads that driver has a cruisy job that trailer loaded with logs might push a 40 tonne gross but with live young trees never its not a regular curtain sider as I know them with only opening side curtains that is set up like a tarp truck but with the effort taken out, wooden boots, really.
Weight-wise, the root ball is the crucial factor, not the young tree itself: http://www.vdberk.nl/media/advice/Kluitentabel/kluittabel.pdf
I love seeing this; for the (seemingly to me, a US-bound person) nearly endless variety of EU vehicles designed for specialized purposes. And also for “My kind of still life, it simply has everything.”…the kind of trifecta that has particular meaning here on CC.
Me too.
I also have to note that most of the specialized tree-related equipment I find around me is dedicated to killing living trees in people’s yards. This due to the continual pursuit of grass and on-going pressure of the home insurance industry to ensure that no living thing is close enough to fall upon a house.
That’s so true – the “tree services” industry could more accurately be rebranded as the “tree-cutting-down industry.” It’s actually somewhat tough to find an actual arborist. (But truthfully, I don’t like having trees close my house, so maybe the insurance brainwashing has gotten the better of me…)
That semi-trailer is a rather old-school type of curtainsider, which can be used to haul an endless variety of freight. In this case, young trees. Roofs that can be opened (or raised) go way back too.
In the pre-curtainsider days, decades ago, those sliding side curtains would have been a tarp, but the whole construction underneath was basically the same. ‘A tarp truck but with the effort taken out’, see comment Bryce above.
Now that I think about it, I can’t ever remember seeing a large truck like this full of trees. Smaller trucks from local landscaping companies, yes… but I’ve never seen this truck’s equivalent here in the US.
I wouldn’t have guessed the the trees are loaded through the roof, but seeing it done, this makes perfect sense. And of course, the truck is wearing some great tree-appropriate livery. For the Netherlands, I’d expect nothing less!
I’m anxious to see part 2 – I looked up Cor Huibers on Google StreetView, and it’s quite a complex of indoor and outdoor growing areas.
Tree sales are going through the roof.
While in America, it seems from the comments, trees are coming through the roof.
Why? What is driving this? Reforestation, and are different species being used?
The trees from all the nurseries in that region are not used for (future) timber production. They end up in gardens, alongside lanes/streets, in front of houses, offices, simply everywhere in and around built-up areas. In the Netherlands and in the rest of Europe.
And the sales are literally going through the semi-trailer roof.
We are doing some major landscaping in our back yard and will soon have some 24” box trees delivered – that’s the size of the root ball. 60 cm. Our landscaper says it’s an easy job for 2 guys and his 1/2 ton pickup, which happens to be a Ram with the 3 liter VM Motori “EcoDiesel”. I’ll see in a few weeks.
Looking forward to your article and the pictures!
The crane seems oversized – until one recalls any attempt ever to just move a substantial pot plant with a small tree in it even a few feet! (Similar lesson in fallen branches: a small-seeming one from high up is so weighty once fallen that it can’t be moved without cutting it up).
I am quite fascinated by the clogs. Are they really worn as work boots still?
Undecorated/unpainted clogs -like the guy is wearing- are still used as work boots, absolutely. You can even wear them while driving a big truck.