Solutions from AL-KO VT for agriculture and forestry
At AL-KO VT, we make your daily work in forestry and agriculture easier: thanks to our extensive product portfolio, featuring safety features, hydraulic applications and maintenance solutions.
Service, maintenance and repair at 7 European customer centres
AL-KO VT is here for you!
All European locations of AL-KO VT offer a wide range of repair and maintenance services for recreational vehicles and commercial trailers.
For customers in Austria, the newly opened Ramsau customer centre offers, in addition to all services in the caravan sector, a comprehensive product range and service solutions for agricultural car trailers – up to a permissible gross weight of 3.5 tonnes. In mountainous regions, trailer braking systems are subject to high demands that are ideally met with AL-KO VT products. All products stand out for their durability and optimal driving performance, including overrun devices and axles for braked car trailers up to a permissible gross weight of 3.5 tonnes, as well as various accessories such as jockey wheels, cable winches and more.
"Especially here in our mountain regions, our customers from the agricultural sector need optimal chassis and brake technology for their car trailers. To perform daily work in the best way, farmers face a variety of transport requirements. These range from transporting different goods such as machinery or animal feed to transporting animals to exhibitions, auctions or alpine pastures," explains Vitus Gredler, head of the customer centre in Ramsau. "The range of car trailers used by farmers extends from unbraked 750-kg trailers to tandem trailers with a permissible gross weight of 3.5 tonnes."
AL-KO VT products and services for agricultural trailers
Car trailers, horse trailers, boat trailers & more
- Spare parts for AL-KO VT brake systems, e.g. brake shoes, brake drums, axle Bowden cables and overrun dampers
- complete overrun devices and axles
- brake maintenance
- professional repair of AL-KO VT brake systems and chassis
- Preparation for the §57a inspection
- Installation of driving safety systems, such as stabiliser coupling AKS 3004, Automatic Trailer Control (ATC)
- Accessories such as jockey wheels, wheel chocks, anti-theft devices
- Retrofitting trailers with the self-adjusting Premium brake AAA
- Retrofitting trailers with axle shock absorbers
AL-KO VT Trailer Control (ATC) for commercial trailers
For stable driving performance
"The trailer will outwit its farmer if it only stops once in the farmhouse living room." This cannot happen to AL-KO VT customers equipped with ATC! The AL-KO VT Trailer Control (ATC) driving safety system, designed especially for commercial trailers up to 3.5 tonnes, works similarly to an ESP (Electronic Stability Programme) in passenger cars. It continuously monitors the driving behaviour of the trailer, automatically initiates braking in the event of swaying movements and then stabilises the vehicle. The trailer is braked gently and in a controlled way without driver intervention, so that the towing combination returns to safe operation.
How does the ATC driving safety system work?
Safe driving with commercial trailers thanks to advanced technology
When installing ATC, AL-KO VT specialists enter the maximum permissible gross weight of the trailer into the system. The lateral movements of the trailer are continuously measured during driving by sensors. If a threshold value is reached or exceeded, the system automatically activates the Bowden cables and therefore the wheel brakes. These controlled light brake interventions calm the towing combination, so that the trailer gets back on track. The brake lights are not activated in this process.
In what situations does the ATC respond?
- Emergency manoeuvres
- Changing lanes
- Overtaking manoeuvres
- Gusts of wind
- Rutted lanes
- Overloading
Important: The installation of the ATC driving safety system never absolves the driver from their duty of care. The system is neither able nor designed to neutralise grossly negligent driving behaviour or unfavourable loading conditions (for example, high centre of gravity with narrow trailers) to the extent that accidents can always be completely prevented.
Regular brake maintenance for drum brakes
Getting the most out of drum brakes
If customers fail their vehicle inspection because of allegedly defective overrun dampers on the brakes: it isn't always down to a brake defect. In many cases, regular maintenance and correct adjustment are sufficient to prevent a harsh response from the overrun damper. For commercial trailers with drum brakes, regular professional brake maintenance is extremely important! This involves cleaning individual components, properly vacuuming the brake dust in the drum, freeing up moving parts, and above all: ensuring the brakes are set up correctly.
aCar by EVUM for agriculture and forestry
Electrically powered utility vehicle
AL-KO VT supplies components for the aCar, the electrically all-wheel-drive utility vehicle from the manufacturer EVUM, including the rear chassis and the powered rubber suspension axle. The lightweight chassis is particularly suitable for the aCar, as the flexible concept allows modular placement of the battery packs and provides maximum protection for the battery. Both the chassis and the axle are, as always, robust and durable, plus they feature corrosion protection through hot-dip galvanised steel. The powered rubber suspension axle allows easy integration with the E-drive and the brake system from EVUM.
"These are robust features that customers of EVUM particularly appreciate in the field of agriculture and forestry. The seats, the towbar and LED lighting racks come from within the AL-KO Vehicle Technology Group, supplied by the firms Aguti and Sawiko," says Manfred Schmid, Senior Business Development, Light Commercial Vehicles, at AL-KO Vehicle Technology. The aCar is produced sustainably – the manufacturer EVUM works exclusively with well-known European manufacturers. Series production of the aCar has been underway since the end of 2020 in Bayerbach, Lower Bavaria.
AL-KO VT products for hydraulic brake systems
for heavy self-propelled vehicles and trailers
Whether tractors, harvesting machines, wheel loaders, sprayers, or heavy trailers like balers or mulchers: the subsidiary SAFIM supplies products for hydraulic brake systems for self-propelled vehicles and towed agricultural vehicles with a permissible gross weight of more than 3.5 tonnes. As a market leader, SAFIM specialises in highly technical components for hydraulic brake systems in off-highway applications.
"We offer our customers the right hydraulics for their brake systems," says Jörg Müller, Managing Director of SAFIM Germany. "We serve both the market for self-propelled vehicles and for agricultural trailers. The type and size of hydraulics are selected individually for each type of vehicle or trailer, as the size of the vehicle and therefore the axle size ultimately determine the size of the brake system." SAFIM is headquartered in Modena, Italy, and supplies manufacturers worldwide such as AGCO Fendt, John Deere, Caterpillar, Liebherr, Claas and Amazone.
As an expert in two-line hydraulic trailer brakes, SAFIM alone holds more than 50 patents for its own products. A trailer braking system has been developed which, thanks to the two separate circuits (brake line and monitoring line), ensures that in the event of brake circuit failure, the vehicle comes to a standstill automatically. SAFIM brake systems also offer a further advantage in comfort: "Our trailer braking systems only consume energy when a trailer is actually coupled. The valves detect this and respond intelligently," explains Jörg Müller. "This protects the systems from unnecessary wear, which is also a significant advantage in terms of safety. Additionally, unnecessary energy consumption is avoided, which benefits both the environment and your wallet. With its high level of production depth, SAFIM manufactures sustainably and in an energy-saving manner. SAFIM works closely with the youngest group member Fluid-Press. This company is also based in Italy and produces hydraulic valves and manifold blocks for agricultural vehicles.
PistenBully in agriculture
It can do much more than just drive on snow!
Due to the large number of base vehicle variants and numerous add-on and conversion options, PistenBully vehicles are not limited to use in ski resorts. A shovel, crane, front mower or round baler make them fit for agricultural tasks. These vehicles can operate on soft, sensitive peat soil just as easily as they can distribute and compact chopped maize plants at harvest time. The extreme demands on the chassis remain: snow, ice, wet, dust, heavy dirt, and a host of bumps challenge any vehicle technology everywhere.
"For these high-end vehicles, which are sometimes used around the clock at peak times, exceptionally robust axles are required that can be flexibly adapted to the particular application profile," says Manfred Schmid from Business Development at AL-KO VT. Here, AL-KO VT can apply its full axle expertise. Based on the basic types of rubber suspension and torsion bar axles from AL-KO VT, the specialists design the required variants according to specifications from Kässbohrer. The final components are manufactured with industrial precision. Schmid: "Special steels are used here as well as multiple overlaid weld seams, so that axle loads, axle widths, support points and the lengths of swing arms can be varied as needed."
