Setting the standards with the first German snow ploughing championships.
Impressive manoeuvres, a tough competition against the clock and lots of fun for the drivers and spectators – that about sums up the first national snow ploughing competition. The exciting contests were carried out in a Unimog U 527.
Precision with the snow plough.
No, there wasn’t any snow in Stolpe in Brandenburg when the German snow ploughing championships were held at the beginning of September, but the course on a site belonging Brandenburg state’s highways authority presented a pretty tough challenge all the same: completing slaloms both forwards and in reverse gear, accurately moving obstacles to target locations and clearing stacked pyramids with precision.
The competition was designed to test the kind of challenges drivers face every day during winter service operations. Along with accuracy and speed this includes the perfect interaction of driver and machine.
Unimog: impressive at snow clearing.
The choice of vehicle for the competition went to a Unimog U 527 with a snow plough from Aebi Schmidt. The manoeuvrable high-performance all-rounder is powered by a reliable 6-cylinder engine delivering an impressive 272 hp.
Combined with its sprung portal axles and all-wheel drive this ensures that the Unimog can battle its way easily through the snow in even the most adverse conditions. Thanks to the panoramic cab’s wide windscreen and short front overhang the driver always has a good view of the working area – an essential prerequisite for accurate manoeuvring during winter service operations.
1st place: Rangsdorf motorways department
2nd place: Luckau highways authority
3rd place: Kamen motorways department
The Rangsdorf team takes the title.
The snow ploughing championships attracted eight highly-motivated teams representing highways departments from a total of five of Germany’s federal states. They included the winners of competitions previously held at state level.
The drivers produced some exciting contests in the competition against the clock. By the end of the day the team from Brandenburg’s motorways department in Rangsdorf was literally a nose in front. Second and third places went to teams from the highways authority in Luckau (Brandenburg) and motorways department in Kamen (North-Rhine Westphalia).
The winners will represent Germany for the first time in the “International Snowfighter Championships” in Gdansk, Poland, in February 2018. The snow ploughing world championships take place every four years during the PIARC International Winter Road Congress. Unimog partner Aebi Schmidt and Bucher Municipal will also be represented there.
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