A family owned fruit growing business in Kent has added a third Kramer wheeled loader to its machinery fleet with the recent purchase of a 5065, the very first of this new model to be delivered to a UK customer.
Robert Mitchell Farms of Sevenoaks specialises in growing Bramley apples on its 90 Ha holding, most of which are sold to the processing trade. The combination of good soil and climate ensures an annual production of some 3000 tonne of high quality apples plus 500 tonne of Conference pears which are grown especially for Sainsburys.
In 2008, the farm introduced a picking train system to harvest its apple crop which, once a pair of Kramer 350 compact wheeled loaders had been added, resulted in a super-efficient method with the Kramer machines unloading the picking trains at a series of collection points around the orchards.
Commenting on the Kramer fleet, Robert Mitchell said: “We fell in love with the machines the minute we had one on demo as they do everything we need. They are also very easy to drive, quite in operation, and have superb all-round visibility for safe working.”
The new 5065 machine, supplied through Mainserve Engineers, has now replaced an ageing and increasingly unreliable rough terrain forklift to complete the farm’s fully integrated harvesting system. It is used mainly to load the full bins, two at a time, onto large trailers for transport to the main yard where they are stacked prior to customer collection.
Kramer’s 5065 model is powered by a water cooled Yanmar diesel engine developing 35 kW (48 hp) and features 4-wheel drive and steer, hydrostatic transmission and a single joystick control for all hydraulic and drive functions. The machine can handle a payload of up to 2 tonne in the transport position and has a maximum lift height of 3050 mm.
