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Jimmy Tew, our Alabama Green Climber specialist, revs up for the new season as vegetation managers are beginning to look for safer equipment to manage difficult terrain.
Thompson CAT Rental Stores in Alabama took on the Green Climber line just three years ago, since then they’ve had sales across the state to many municipalities and utility companies. Alabama Power and the City of Hartselle are some of their more recent successes.
Jimmy Tew has been with Thompson Rents for 22 years and has seen the advancement of their heavy machinery. Tew noticed the demand for safer equipment, so he set out to find a solution for keeping all operators safe.
“We sold our first unit within six months of finding out about Green Climber mowers,” said Tew. “Around that time, we had a maintenance company come to us looking for a solution to tackle some difficult terrain they managed. Good thing we had that connection with Green Climber.”
The Alabama territory is dominated by the Southern portion of the Appalachian Mountains which rapidly decreases to meet sea level. With Alabama’s naturally steep terrain and the creation of man-made berms like roadsides, right of ways, or retention ponds, Green Climbers have been eagerly received by the region’s vegetation managers.
“Green Climbers are overall better machines. They’re more robust, with a lot of features and benefits. In such a competitive market, they’re a more versatile machine compared to other remote-control brands that only offer
undercarriage mowing.”
Manufacturer MDB SRL, began producing Green Climber mowers in 2012. Since then, MDB has stayed on the top of its game by implementing high-tech enhancements using the latest technologies. For example, the Green Climber LV600 PLUS now comes standard with an LED Screen remote control. This remote provides the operator with live maintenance, slope, fuel, and fluid indicators. Also, the new TE Flail Models offer multiple types of teeth for one head.
“There’s been an increase of people looking for products that keep the driver away from the machine,” said Tew.
“For this specific type of product, I see that it might be completely autonomous in the future. They’ll be run through GPS and stay within a mapped perimeter. All you do is press a button and it sort of goes, or it's done remotely through cameras and those types of things.”
Green Climber GPS mowing is a technology still in the works at MDB. But safety remains their #1 priority. Green Climber mowers can be operated from up to 500 feet away, allowing the operator to maintain a safe distance from the difficult terrain. The safe distance allows operators to monitor the machine and terrain, obstructions or pedestrians can be seen and avoided easily.
Green Climber Equipment at the Alabama Power Facility
“We’ve had really good feedback on the machines," said Tew. "Operators have said it’s a reliable product. There’s always a great response from Green Climber. The whole Green Climber team is knowledgeable and gets back to us fast.”
It’s great to have a Sales Manager so thrilled with the Green Climber line. From personal to professional use, he understands and advocates for the Green Climber machines. Since we spoke, Jimmy has reported a few more sales in his pipeline already. We look forward to more success with the Thompson Tractor team in 2022.
“I used to own my own personal property," said Tew. "That's probably the most intimate impact I had with it. It's extremely easy to use, my wife was able to operate it after 10 minutes. She’s not really equipment savvy so it was nice to see her get a hang of it quickly.”