At the risk of sounding like a salesman I figured I would broach this subject. In building your home and maintaining the property, have any of you heard of a UNIMOG? I'm well versed in the subject, but I was curious if this is something anyone else has considered.
I won't try and re-type their history, there is a good write-up here...
http://www.unimog.net/articles/schramm/
Long story short, with the 406 and 416 models you have a diesel powered tractor that is capable of highway speeds (albeit on the lower end, 50 to 60MPH max). You have a multiple ton load capacity that was designed for manuevering in off-road situations. Depending on the configuration you can have front/rear PTO and hydraulics. Again, depending on the configuration you can have a dump-bed, back-hoe, front-loader, snow-blower, snow-plow, etc. All of this is removeable and leaves you with a beefy, yet slow, pickup truck to go to the lumber store with - or to run other errands.
I'll gladly entertain questions or point you in the direction of information. UNIMOGs have been around for a long time in Europe, and have been imported to the states by a handful of dealers across North America. I think they are worthwhile to consider as an alternative to purchasing relatively limited conventional tractor.
Jim Ruzauskas
Comments
UNIMOG - tractor / back-hoe / crane / snowplow / etc.
Mon, 2007-02-12 14:00
Yes, they're quite slow on the highway. Its a good thing that is the one place they were definitely not designed to be. My 404 tops out around 55MPH. But that doesn't really matter when it comes time to building my log home. I'll be going into the depths of the property with ease all the while carrying building supplies or skidding logs. :P
For the newer models - I don't think its the importation rules themselves, rather MB just hasn't found it desirable to gamble on their success in the US. The new ones (U500) you see in the states are actually under Freightliner's brand. Really nice rigs. :D
UNIMOG - tractor / back-hoe / crane / snowplow / etc.
I was pretty close to buying a mog once. I actually found one for sale locally and went to check it out. I had been looking for quite some time.
It was a gasoline engine with an ambulance body. I actually drove it and had the cash in hand. I just didn't like it. Loud as could be and SLOW!!!! Man that thing was slow and I was expecting it. Just not that slow. I ended up passing on it.
There was also another one locally that had a backhoe on it. I knew the mechanic who worked on it. Said it worked pretty good for what it was. I definately looked cool.
I don't know what happened recently with the impotation rules but there is a Mack truck dealer a few miles away with what looks to be a brand spanking new Unimog dump truck. I saw it one day pulling into the fuel station. Man that thing was cool. I since found it in their lot right out front up against the fence. I never went and looked.
Jer