At Staber, the Arocs gives machinery a piggy-back ride

Vehicle & technology

Diggers in the mountains.

Michael Steiner works for Staber where he uses the Arocs to transport construction machinery, often to almost inaccessible spots.


On the horizon you can see one mountain peak next to another. Wispy clouds race above them. In front there are dense coniferous forests. And right in the middle of this idyll, at the Stöfflerberg in the Gail valley in upper Carinthia, southern Austria, you can just make out a wooden hut in a small clearing right in the background. "That's exactly where the excavator has to go," said Michael Steiner, holding the end of a lashing chain in his hand and looking into the distance.

The 29-year-old truck driver from the small town of Paternion works for HM Staber Holding GmbH and went to fetch the construction vehicle this morning in his Arocs 3363, from Kaning, near Bad Kleinkirchheim before transporting it here via the Windische Höhe, along the Gailtal main road, through Kirchbach, and around a good number of hairpin bends. Thanks to the steered wheels of his triple-axle trailer, even the tightest of bends were no problem, and it easily managed the steeper parts of the journey despite the heavy load.

"With a 460-kW engine, it's child's play," said Michael Steiner with a grin. "And if needs be, I've also got the turbo retarder clutch up my sleeve as trumps. When I put my foot on the accelerator pedal, it pumps oil into the system with compressed air. That creates a frictional connection between the engine and the transmission. It means I can even drive uphill on gravel or loose stones without the tyres spinning."


Steiner releases the lashing chains in order to unload the excavator.


But on the forest road leading up to the hut, even the best technology is no use. The huge amounts of snow from the winter have made the road impassable in many places, with parts of the road having slid away and others covered with earth or scree. Now, the excavator has to help to clean up, and it has to clear its own path. "It would be too dangerous to drive across there, even in the Arocs: the road is too bad," said Michael Steiner, loosening the other lashing chains as he spoke. He then lowered the ramps and the supports of the trailer and removed the warning lamp from the rear.

The excavator driver climbed into the cab of his vehicle and switched on the engine, revving it loudly. He took a critical look out of the window and swung the excavator body round through 180 degrees. The arm of the working vehicle was now pointing towards the Arocs cab. Slowly, the driver lowered the excavator arm and picked up a backhoe. "If the excavator has just one extra bucket like today, or maybe a hydro-chisel, then I take the semi-trailer," explained Michael Steiner. "If more attachments need transporting, I can remove the fifth-wheel coupling on the mounting plate of the Arocs, fit a small tipper to it and hang a low-loader on the back."

Steiner likes his job. "It's fun, and there are a lot of challenges," he said. "For example, you always have to think how best to secure the excavator. Also, I often have to drive over mountain roads, which demands a great deal more skill, particularly in winter or spring when there is a lot of snow or the roads are very wet. I'm looking forward to see how the turbo retarder clutch is going to make day-to-day work easier for me."


As the Arocs has only been in use for three weeks, Steiner has not yet had much chance to experience this combination of hydraulic starting clutch and retarder. "But my first impression is: wow!" he said, truly impressed. "The system is perfect for all that uphill and downhill driving around here, and it makes manoeuvring and setting off much easier." Also, the system means that wear and tear are reduced to a minimum when pulling away or braking.

Besides Steiner's new construction vehicle, HM Staber Holding GmbH has started using an Arocs 4151 with a two-sided tipper. The fleet comprises a total of 47 commercial vehicles. These include crane vehicles as well as tipper trucks, food transporters, milk collection vehicles, low-loaders, refrigerated transporters and transporters for dust and debris. Also, there is other equipment, such as wheel loaders, crawler excavators, and crushing and screening apparatus.

There is also an inn – the "Ebnerwirt" in Kreuzen – and the wash centre in Drautal, right next to the Paternion-Feistritz motorway exit, which belong to the company. "We try to keep as broad a base as possible," said Michael Staber, who manages the second generation of the family firm together with his brother Hannes. The same applies to the large number of brands in the fleet, too. But it's worth highlighting that half the vehicles bear the Mercedes star on their radiator grills.

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