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Bengt bought his first HUDDIG 25 years ago and since then he has remained faithful to the brand
Bengt Thisner, owner of BT Schakt och Gräv AB in Uppsala, is a true excavator loader fan. His interest in machinery, agriculture and entrepreneurship was born early on. As Bengt grew up on a farm, he got his hands dirty helping from a young age. The first time he test drove an excavator loader he was only ten years old. In 1990 Bengt bought his first excavator loader, a Volvo BM 646 from 1983. Just over five years later, he bought his first HUDDIG, a used 760 from 1990. Since then he has managed to make use of several models launched by the company and he has always remained faithful to the brand.
Bengt has been the sole owner of BT Schakt och Gräv AB since its start in 1990. He has no employees and does all the company’s work himself. Since Bengt bought his first used HUDDIG in 1995, his company has owned a HUDDIG 860, two HUDDIG 1060s and two HUDDIG 1260s. In addition to being a contractor, Bengt has a farm on an old family estate in Ramsa outside Uppsala, where he lives with his three daughters. In order to give himself a little more time, he has rented the farm itself out since 2002.
Over the past 26 years, BT Schakt och Gräv AB has mainly worked for PEAB in Uppsala. Bengt and his HUDDIG act as a service machine and perform all types of jobs. Snow ploughing, excavation work, water and sewage projects, digging building foundations, restoration work and cable work. No two days are the same. Something that Bengt appreciates.
“The main advantage of an excavator loader is clearly the versatility and flexibility. I can take on all sorts of work, which gives me a lot of freedom. Having a machine standing still is expensive, so it’s important to have a regular flow of steady work. With my HUDDIG, I have work every day all year round, regardless of the weather, which of course is good for profitability,” says Bengt.
Many people believe that the capacity of an excavator loader is significantly less than an excavator, but according to Bengt that’s not true.
“It’s a question of fully exploiting the front bucket to get the maximum capacity from the machine. It may require a little bit of experience and familiarity to get to it from a HUDDIG, but once you have learned, it is both quick and easy,” says Bengt. “The precision of the hydraulics in a HUDDIG is also superior. The machine is very quiet and gentle, which ensures the hydraulics work optimally.”
Bengt’s company has also been a member of the ‘Upplands Schakt’ association in Uppsala since 1990. The members jointly own the association and get jobs passed on to them through a queuing system. At the moment Bengt is not doing that many jobs for the association, apart from smaller odd jobs, because he is busy with PEAB.
About two years ago, Bengt was asked by Huddig if he would consider test driving a machine with a new engine, something Bengt accepted immediately. For some years, Huddig has been involved in a development project together with the American engine manufacturer Cummins on stage V engines.
Stage V is the next emission stage in Europe and will be sold as Tier VI Final in the American market.
The test project Bengt has been involved in has been conducted under great secrecy since autumn 2017 and will now be completed in spring. The main difference with the new engine is that it uses less diesel and emits fewer particles, but retains the power.
“There is a computer in the machine that records everything I do, so Cummins has been able to follow the project from the USA,” says Bengt. This spring the engine will be sent back to the USA for evaluation. “It will be exciting to see what they come up with,” says Bengt.
Thanks to the tests carried out in collaboration with Bengt, Huddig will be in a good position when the new emission requirements come into force.
At the moment Bengt is using a HUDDIG 1260C in the company, but he has plans to invest in a new machine eventually. He hasn’t decided precisely when yet, but one thing is certain, it will be a HUDDIG again.
