Welcome to Green Thumb County (aka Tree Centre Opheusden) in the Netherlands, where dozens of tree nurseries largely dominate the landscape. One of them is the Cor Huibers family business, their open house on September 27 was a great opportunity to examine some wheeled workhorses, a full-size indoor robot, and especially a wide variety of shrubs and young trees.
The gatekeeper was this panel van equivalent of a Rottweiler, a 2022 Iveco Daily 40-210 HiMatic (ZF eight-speed automatic transmission).
Parked next to the Daily van, a 2024 Isuzu D-Max 4×4, powered by a 1.9 liter Ddi Blue Power turbodiesel. Some significant numbers: 163 DIN-hp, 1,165 kg (2,568 lbs) payload capacity, 3,500 kg (7,700 lbs) towing capacity. I guess it was a visitor’s pickup truck.
The predominant 4x4s in the tree nurseries’ region are the Toyota Land Cruiser 90-, 120-, and 150-series (the Prado line) with a cargo van conversion. All turbodiesels, without exception.
Brand spanking new, an Iveco Daily 70-210 HiMatic flatbed truck with an Amco-Veba crane. With a GVWR of 7,000 kg (15,432 lbs), this is the end boss in the segment of light trucks on our market, going way beyond the Sprinter, Transit, and all other competitors.
Both the Daily panel van and the flatbed truck are powered by the 207 DIN-hp top version of the FPT Industrial F1C turbodiesel, a four-cylinder with a displacement of 3.0 liter.
A local agricultural contractor displayed two of their big rigs at the tree nursery’s event.
Brutal, a John Deere 8530 tractor with a 2002 (Jan) Veenhuis tri-axle hooklift trailer.
The trailer’s payload capacity is 26 tonnes (57,320 lbs), so it’s a good idea to hook it up to a weighty Deere (photo courtesy of Van Laar Agri Service).
Now who is going to take care of that steaming pile?
Well, the driver of this John Deere 6R-155 tractor with a Bergmann manure spreader. Self-loading, evidently.
Sitting inside the main building, a Horti Robotics potting robot. Something you don’t get to see every day.
We would almost forget that we are visiting a tree nursery, so here we go, name that shrub or tree (but don’t ask me).
At least here’s something I recognized immediately, a Damcon self-propelled aerial work platform.
This was only a short tour directly around the nursery’s yard. No wonder they also opted for a semi-trailer to deliver their products…
That black Daily looks spectacular!.
The rear overhang on that Iveco astounds me. It must have a very stout frame.
Well, it does. But it’s a tree hauler, the root balls (the heavy parts) are resting above or directly behind the rear axle and the trees themselves are leaning backwards, resting on that rack at the back. The real weight of the cargo is concentrated on top of and ahead of the rear axle.
Oregon’s #1 agricultural product by dollar value is nursery stock. I’ve driven by some of the larger ones in the northern half of the Willamette Valley and yes, they are very efficient and mechanized with lots of specialized equipment.
Johannes, once again you gave us a great tour with plenty of information – for those of us who love trucks. Interesting applications for heavy service. Thanks.
Big overhang on that Iveco, class 2 commercial vehicle over here, bags of torque and lots of gears, those vans haul well.
Regarding the overhang, see my reply to Evan’s comment above.
Thank you for this tour – I definitely would go to an open house for a facility like this.
That black Iveco Daily looks rather menacing… the only black vans I see around are prison vans (we call them the black vans of doom) or coroner’s vans.
I enjoyed the Horti Robotics website – found a video of that tree transplanter robot in action. Truly impressive.
Speaking of black, Ram 1500 pickups in black are also quite common in that area. All of them are powered by a bi-fuel (gasoline/LPG) V8, none of them has the V6 turbodiesel that Dman mentioned last week.
But as written in the article, the Toyota Land Cruiser rules over there (90-/120-/150-series, not the big guns). That includes my own former set-of-wheels:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/cars-of-a-lifetime/former-coal-2002-toyota-land-cruiser-90-3-0-d-4d-far-from-retired/