Designed for forestry, the TreEmme Merlo MM250X is a versatile tool handler capable of demanding work. A surprise demo in Ayrshire showed off a little of what it can do.
IT was a chilly but bright day in the winter of 2023 when Forestry Journal got its first chance to see Merlo’s new forestry tractor in action.
The location was the historic Auchincruive Estate on the outskirts of Ayr, home to River Garden Auchincruive, a charity helping people recover from drug and alcohol addiction.
With the charity planning to expand its facilities, a number of trees had to be cleared and Tivoli was happy to do the job at no cost if it was allowed to bring in an audience.
Forestry Journal was invited – along with a contingent of Tivoli team members, plus existing and prospective clients – to see the Merlo Roto 50.35 S Plus with grapple saw in action as it carefully dismantled some ash trees.
However, the event offered even more than advertised, with a surprise demonstration of the new TreEmme MM250X.
While Merlo is a name well known in the British construction industry, it has been making inroads into forestry with its latest machines.
The Italian company has a long history, founded in 1964 when Amilcare Merlo, inspired by his father’s engineering business, established Merlo Spa and began producing mobile construction equipment. The first telehandler arrived in 1981 – the SM series – which was essentially a concept offering both the performance of a forklift and a hydraulic telescopic boom crane.
Today, Merlo maintains its family-run structure, producing several product lines of telehandlers for agriculture and construction, as well as other products for the waste industry.
WATCH ABOVE: Why Merlo's TreEmme MM250X might just be the perfect forestry kit
While Merlo Roto telehandlers have been seized on by the UK’s arb sector, the TreEmme X-Series is bespoke, designed from the ground up for forestry tasks.
Available in two versions, the 250 hp MM250X or the 350 hp MM350X, X-Series forestry tractors are suited to a wide range of applications using the array of attachments available for the machine.
The elevated forward-mounted cab offers 360° visibility of the working area, combined with excellent manoeuvrability and a technologically advanced high-flow hydraulic system. The chassis is reinforced and protected in the most exposed areas to ensure operator safety in the most extreme conditions, with the machine being fully ROPS, OPS and FOPS compliant.
The X-Series forestry tractors from Merlo offer numerous advantages over their traditionally tracked counterparts with large-diameter forestry-specification tyres, four-wheel drive, front and rear diff locks, three-mode four-wheel steer and a maximum 40 km/h transport speed. Reinforced belly plates protect the machine from any debris, ensuring the protection of the drivetrain components.
The in-cab joystick control allows fingertip control of key functions including direction of travel, forward speed, and full control of the selected attachment. In the case of a mulcher the operator can reverse the rotation of the mulcher head rotor at the touch of a button.
The full TreEmme range is equipped with hydrostatic transmission, which makes work faster and more precise, and with oil bath disc brakes, which allow the machine to be stopped quickly.
A versatile, high-performance machine, the MM250X is especially suitable for the forestry sector, thanks to the various hydraulically driven attachments with which it can be equipped, from flail mowers for making firebreaks to chippers for shredding biomass wood. It proves itself ideal for ground clearance and reclamation when fitted with a fixed-tooth mulcher.
On this day it was fitted with a 200/U heavy-duty mulching head from FAE. Suitable for larger machines from 180 to 350 hp, this strong and highly productive unit is capable of mulching bushes, branches and trees up to 35 cm in diameter.
WANT MORE MERLO?
- APF 2022: Merlo brings some big machines as it sets sights on forestry industry
- Tivoli: Merlo Roto's 35m reach takes arb firm to new heights
It boasts a hydraulic rear hood with anti-clogging system for high productivity and lower fuel consumption.
Tasked with clearing an area of young trees and brash to the rear of Auchincruive Estate, the TreEmme MM250X made short work of the job, putting on a good show for spectators.
Gavin Smith, regional sales manager for Merlo UK, said: “We class it as a forestry tractor. Essentially it’s a tool carrier. The machine itself needs an attachment in order to perform. On this one here we’ve got an FAE mulching head. There is an option to put a snow blower on it, a chipper, or more.
“It uses a hydraulic power take-off system rather than a conventional mechanical PTO. The advantages of that are that you don’t have the safety issues or constraints you would have with a mechanical shaft.
“Today it’s undertaking site clearance. It’s a two-stage process. The tractor pushes the tree over, that puts it on the deck, and the backward pass effectively processes it, creating a fine mulch.
“For the purpose of today we would either have to clear the site by hand and end up with a pile of brash that we need to figure out what to do with. Or we can use the TreEmme to put it all straight back into the ground without the need to cart it away and reprocess it again. I’d say it’s the more environmentally friendly option just because it’s a streamlined process.
“Otherwise we would have to bring in another machine and chip it again or take it away, which involves road haulage to deliver it to a power station, depending on the type of waste.”
As for operating the TreEmme, Gavin said: “I enjoy it. I come from a background of operating machines so I’m quite happy in there. I only get to drive it for 10 minutes here and there and so don’t ever get a real chance to settle in. But it’s very straightforward.
“It’s a single-lever control to operate the whole front end and a super-quiet cab. The machines as standard are equipped with bullet-proof glass. Because of the nature of what it’s doing, stones and debris can hit the cab with some force, but it’s not going to shatter the window and harm the operator.”
Their versatility makes the MM250X and MM350X suitable for both urban and woodland forestry, and even highway maintenance. Those who gathered to watch the machine for this demonstration could see a number of different ways it could be used.
Complementing the X-Series forestry tractors, Merlo also offers a range of compact tracked carriers. The Cingo range comes in a variety of models, with a vast range of attachments available for each. Some attachments available for the Cingo tracked carriers include a flail mower, dumper (also available as a high-tip version), forestry grab and telescopic boom.
To see video of the TreEmme at work, visit the Forestry Journal YouTube channel.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here