Seppi groundscare and forestry distributors from across the world recently visited the company’s Head Quarters for their annual conference & training programme in what was to be the largest gathering of Seppi distributors ever held. Nearly 100 people from 30 countries descended on the picturesque area next to the Seppi factory in Caldaro, South Tyrol, Italy.

A large selection of Seppi products was on show with working demonstrations being held across the two day event. The demonstration areas were shown in two different working conditions – one of the many orchards in the area and a wooded area that was being redeveloped into a vineyard. All participants were very satisfied with the machines shown and could see a growing and motivated company.
“The annual event was a huge success,” commented Barbara Seppi, Marketing Manager at Seppi. “It was held to notify all of our distributors of the new developments which we are currently undertaking as well as training our dealers on how best to work with our machinery”.

This was the first time in Seppi’s 71 year history that dealers from all over the world have been invited as one group to attend the factory and the whole two day event has proved such a success, that next year’s event is already being planned.

The full range of Seppi mulchers are on sale in the UK exclusively from Lamberhurst Engineering. For more information, please contact 01892 890 364 or visit the website on www.lameng.com

Stuart Wilson of Wilson Tree Surgery, based in Maidstone, Kent has recently purchased a Seppi MidiForst 225DT from nearby Lamberhurst Engineering for their contract with EDF Energy, on behalf of Brockwells Forestry Limited, to help manage the vegetation growing around overhead power lines across the Ryarsh village.

Ryarsh is a picturesque Kent village nestling amongst the North Downs and is within easy reach of many historic places. Local to West Malling, the Ryarsh village community is the way village life should be. Lanes weave between farm fields and country cottages pass through extraordinary Kent countryside.

Trees can cause reliability problems for the power distribution company as the South East is one of the most heavily wooded regions in the UK and trees and branches near power lines have to be continually managed and it was specifically for this task, that Stuart decided to purchase the Seppi mulcher which has been designed for fast and efficient brush clearance in forestry plantations, road and rail embankments and, in fact, anywhere that requires thick undergrowth to be removed.

Seppi has been manufacturing forestry mowers for almost forty years, have the largest range of machines of any manufacturer and have acquired a vast amount of knowledge of what works and what doesn’t.

Machines are available from as small as 35hp right up to 600hp. The heart of the machine must be the rotor and it is here that Seppi excel. All of the heavy duty mulchers from the ‘Miniforst’ to the ‘Maxiforst’ are offered with either a swinging hammer rotor or a fixed knife rotor. The design and construction of the swinging hammer rotor is unique and Seppi are the only manufacturers to use forged rotor sections which bring two major advantages.

Firstly, the rotor is approximately 20% heavier than a similar sized fabricated rotor. This gives tremendous momentum to the rotor and enables the machine to keep going when most others will stall.

Secondly, the forging process allows metal to be placed where it is really needed – in this case, the area where the hammer bar connects to the rotor. There are no welds in the area to break, no bosses to weld in, just a very hard wearing metal. Infact, the rotor is also heat-treated to greatly increase the wear resistance. All this means that the machine is designed to handle vegetation up to 30cm in diameter and stones up to 20cm – depending on the type of stone.

“It doesn’t matter what material you are mulching, the Seppi always works like a Trojan horse,” commented Stuart. “The mulcher will enable us to trim back as much as 600 metres of vegetation underneath power lines in a single day that it would normally take two staff working by hand two weeks to complete”.

On Lamberhurst Engineering’s prowess: “We are very pleased with the machines we have purchased and the superb service we have received from Lamberhurst Engineering. We know from experience that we can call on their after-sales service if it is needed, which is important when you are relying on machinery to clear a busy workload.”

Sited on 91ha on the Isle of Thanet in Kent, Thanet Earth is heralded as the largest, most high-tech commercial greenhouse complex the UK has ever seen. It represents an £80m investment in the production of tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. Kent-based fresh produce supplier, Fresco Group, have teamed up with three specialist large-scale growers for the project that includes the construction of seven Venlo glasshouses, each of over 7 Hectares (10 football pitches). The 91 hectare site will also house a 30,000 square metre pack-house and a marketing company to sell these salad crops, mainly to the UK supermarkets.

Twig Trading of Lamberhurst in Kent recently won the contract for the maintenance of the entire site having successfully completed phase one of the projects. “We have planted in the region of 150,000 trees and shrubs”, said David Eyre, Managing Director of Twig Trading. “We also seeded much of the site with native calcareous grasses to encourage wildlife and to help reinstate a large area of chalk grassland which is in decline in the UK.”

In order to maintain the site efficiently, David chose to purchase a new tractor. Chosen specifically for this contract, David wanted a tractor and implement that was easily transportable on a trailer and one that would weigh under 3.5 tones combined. For this, the Ferrari Vega came up trumps. “I looked at various other, larger tractors with 40 or 50kph gearboxes, but kept coming back to wanting an easily transportable machine. To have 91HP in such a compact machine with a 40kph gearbox makes any job we do effortless. The fact that the Ferrari Vega is available from a company local to us made the decision a ‘no-brainer’. Lamberhurst Engineering’s sales team is very knowledgeable and the decision of purchasing the Vega was the obvious choice for us.”

The tractor has been extremely impressive and manages to cope with a variety of tasks in a multitude of conditions. To date, the tractor has been used for topping and flailing on both flat and banked terrain, fencing with a post knocker, pulling a 6 metre set of Vaderstad rolls and moving heavy materials around with pallet forks due to the high life capacity.

“The articulated steer of the Vega 95AR makes positioning the post knocker for fencing a piece of cake and the powerful engine and low centre of gravity makes for a stable ride on banked areas.”

Lamberhurst Engineering has certainly seen a growth from Twig Trading’s first days as a farming contractor back in the late 1990’s. Since then the company has gone from strength to strength and now boasts clients such as the National Trust and NPower amongst others. “Lamberhurst Engineering is a local business that we have used for many years, originally from when we were farming, but more lately for the majority of our machine repairs and purchases of both new and used landscaping equipment. They are a helpful and friendly business that has certainly helped in the growth of Twig, through the supply of quality equipment and knowledgeable and genuine advice,” says David.

An exciting new addition to the already successful Ferrari range of models has just been unveiled to the UK market by Lamberhurst Engineering, the UK distributor of Ferrari tractors.

Like all Ferrari products, the New Vega EP series stands out from its competitors thanks to its quality and high level performance. The new models have been created with high performance engines and greatly reduced emissions, gearboxes that are suitable for a range of uses and an increase in reliability and functionality.

The new Ferrari Vega EP series, available in six models – AR, RS, MT, DUALSTEER®, SDT – RS & SDT – DUALSTEER®, with three engine sizes from 70HP to 91HP are all available with 32 speeds – 16 forward and 16 reverse with a synchronized reverser, without overlapping speeds in the various ranges allows the user to adapt ratios to specific needs in any given situation.

The new models have some outstanding features including a platform to reduce noise and vibrations, fully homologated cabins, hydraulic pump, PTO clutch activated electro-hydraulically with brake, electro-hydraulically controlled insertion of front wheel drive, disc brake in oil bath on all four wheels, ‘BRAKE-OFF’ automatic hand brake, and many more new features.

Andrew Fuller, Director of Lamberhurst Engineering comments “The new Vega EP series will sit nicely alongside the other already successful Ferrari models. With the tighter EU emission laws, the new model and engine have been developed to recycle the exhaust gasses which, when mixed, return to the combustion chamber which drastically reduces the fuel consumption and more importantly emissions.”

The Vega EP Series is on sale in the UK exclusively from Lamberhurst Engineering.

To handle around 600 hectares (1,500 acres) of mixed woodland requires a dedicated team and dedicated equipment, which has prompted Crichel Estate near Wimborne in Dorset.

The tractor, purchased from Kent based Lamberhurst Engineering, replaced an earlier Ferrari model which was purchased 11 years previously, and which was the first Ferrari tractor sold in the UK by the company.

In charge of the Woods Department at Crichel Estate is Head Forester John Cook, who has nothing but praise for the outgoing machine. This promoted its replacement with a newer model earlier this year.

“The Vega 95RS was purchased solely for use in plantations and narrow areas, which makes up a considerable area of our woodland”, commented John.
The Ferrari Vega 95RS, which features a 92HP Daimler engine, articulated dual steer system and reverse drive function, is generally paired up to a forestry mulcher which is used to clear areas of light hazel, heavy bramble and old man’s beard.

On Lamberhurst Engineering’s prowess, John states “Lamberhurst has always been consistent and efficient in servicing and repairs with our equipment, and have been very helpful in dealing with any problems that we have had with machines. As for the tractor itself, we have always been very impressed with the older models performance, prompting us to buy the Vega 95RS this year.”