Florian Stütz from Aalen in Swabia, located on the Swabian Jura in Baden-Württemberg, is quite happy with his multifunctional HYDREMA machine. At the age of 13, he regularly helped his father, who founded the company at the end of the 1980s. At the turn of the millennium, he took over the company from his father and has continued to run it very successfully as a one-man business.

As Grünlandservice Stütz he provides classic, nature-based landscape management, i.e. Mowing and mulching of roadside greens, wet meadows, all kinds of biotopes, streams, etc., but also takes care of everything related to tree felling, from felling problems to complete clearing of construction sites, as well as hedge trimming, hedge maintenance of biotope hedges, roadside vegetation and much more.

While he used to do everything with a tractor-trailer combination, he switched to a used special excavator from a French manufacturer. “The special excavator was already a good development for us. Above all, mechanical cutting with a mulcher could be carried out much more efficiently with this machine. You always had a good view of the implement, and you could also use the mulcher over a ditch, which was not so easy with the front-mounted mulcher on the tractor. However, there were some unmanageable functions, especially if you wanted to use a gripper. Therefore investments in a new machine had to be considered, as the necessary changes to the special machine would be too expensive ”says Florian Stütz.

“In the trade press I saw a picture of an HYDREMA MX excavator, exactly with the equipment that I was looking for,” says the 44-year-old Contractor. “My research led me to Nico Ringelstetter and his company RiLo Baumaschinen, the specialist dealer for HYDREMA in the Nuremberg area. Nico is very knowledgeable,genuinely passionate about the topic and can give you confidence-inspiring advice. When I first contacted Nico Ringelstetter, it became clear to me, that he was the first excavator seller, who also knew the machine technically and had an immense knowledge of what he was talking about. He knows in details, what needs to be considered, what is and what is not possible. Unfortunately, I have learned that this is not always the case in the industry! You feel very well received there, which is why I i decided to do the business with him, despite the distance. I also felt confirmed as I had previously spoken to a friend of mine, who also uses HYDREMA machinery and praised their machines. ”

You also have to say that though RiLo - Baumaschinen is a small company, where the boss himself gives the advice and once he has worked on a project, also can deliver additional equipment for the machine, that you wouldn't otherwise get from another dealer. As a result, Stütz is probably the first and only excavator driver in Germany, who can drive the excavator with approval as an agricultural or forestry tractor. "The advantage for me is immense.In contrast to other excavators used as self-propelled construction machines on the market I  am now not only allowed to carry the attachments on the trailer, but also to transport earth material or, in my case, the cutting material in particular", says Florian Stütz proudly.

In fact, Florian Stütz has a trailer load of 19.2 tons thanks to the built-in air brake - and which is approved for 40 km / h. Any normal truck trailer can be pulled with it. For Florian Stütz, the consequence is an enormous advantage. "Where I had my own truck in the past, which I used to remove the material, I am today able to get rid of this thanks to the HYDREMA MX16. HerebyI save myself having to drive back and forth. So while I used to have to put the woodcut neatly on the spot, then drive the machine back to the company, fetch the truck and load the cut with a crane, it's an entirely different process today, as I can do the whole process with the HYDREMA. I attached an open material container to the HUMBAUR trailer, type HTK 135024, with a permissible weight of 15 tons. In this, I carry all my tools, and on the way back, I can also carry the entire woodcut, which I immediately load into the trailer on site. With the camera attached to the excavator arm, I also have a good view of all the tools in the container from the excavator, so that the hydraulic mount with the OilQuick quickhitch, is not a problem for me at all. When I arrive at the depot, I first load the tools from the container and then I can easily dump the remaining woodcut out of the container using the tipper function that I control from the excavator."

When asked if the excavator is overloaded, with the heavy trailer, Florian Stütz acknowledges; "It won't win an acceleration race at the traffic lights, but in fact, the excavator has no problem on the straight track and easily reaches the maximum speed of 38 km / h. Even if the excavator goes down on its knees on steep slopes, I still have an enormous time and cost advantage because I can go through the entire work process, cutting, loading and transporting in one go. Reducing the number of machines by eliminating the truck is another important cost advantage for me. "

Florian Stütz can also confirm another advantage that the HYDREMA offers: "Like no other excavator in its class, the HYDREMA has enormous lifting forces and an exorbitantly high hydraulic output. I operate a ROTOTILT tiltrotator on the machine and operate, among other things. a TMC CANCELA grass mulching head type THG 120, a forestry mulching head, type AHWI M450e-1100, a tree cutting gripper from BEHA Forsttechnik, type FG300, a residual material gripper from INTERMERCATO, , a DÜCKER hedge trimmer, type AWS 22 and in the near future a MICHAELIS Mower basket, type G3000. I can work with all machines over the enormous range of the excavator. The other unique selling point of the machine is the work area, where I can work right up to the machine. This enables me to work in extremely narrow spaces where other excavators face difficulties. Thanks to the exceptionally high lifting force, I can use the advantages of the machine particularly well here, especially in the case of problematic tree cutting. The tires on the machine also ensure that I always have good grip and a firm footing.”

Florian Stütz very much appreciates the overall package of the machine and, of course, the workplace should not go unmentioned. The largest cabin in its class according to the manufacturer not only offers plenty of space and excellent all-round visibility but also space for a 15 litre cooling and heater box. "I always have warm drinks and food with me on cold days and cold drinks and fresh, chilled food in summer. And with the extremely high lifting forces and long ranges, enormous high hydraulic pump performance and all in the guise of a short-tail excavator - what more could you want."

And this is how Florian Stütz enjoys his recurring and well-regulated workflow with the HYDREMA. Approach the job with the attachments in the trailer, carry out the work by changing the attachments — tweaking the trees/felling grapples, relocating the material/brush grapple, milling down the sticks and making one mowing area/forestry mulch head, loading the clippings into the container/brush gripper ... done! Finally, the attachments on top and return to the depot ... everything is really easy.

Hydrema Regional manager Stefan Heitzer can confirm that Nico Ringelstetter is a special kind of dealer. "The identification with the product and the enthusiasm is so authentic that you feel in good hands with Nico. If you consider that the company is still very small, the sales force that comes from this company solely through its website and consulting services is more than exceptional. I started at HYDREMA outside of the industry, and from the beginning, I had a good loyal partner in Nico, with whom one would like to exchange knowledge.

Hydrema Sales manager Martin Werthenbach adds: "With his wife Tina as the owner, Nico runs the company as a manager with full passion, together with a car mechanic and another workshop employee. Originally from automotive sales, he quickly realized that with specialist advice and the skilful refinement of a machine that is good in itself, you and your customers can gain an enormous advantage. Almost every excavator from RiLo is unique. RiLo customers are happy to take at least tinted windows, an elaborate paint job, additional flashing lights and lighting, as well as camera systems on the machine. As a thank you for this, they not only receive an excavator that is already unrivalled in its own right, but also a particularly striking excavator with which they can demonstrate to the outside world that they can provide a unique service. Therefore it is not surprising that we hear from customers all over Germany time and again: I can do things with the HYDREMA that others cannot. 

By the way, RiLo is Dealer of the Year in 2019 with the most sales of the year and not a single customer complained about the price despite the high investment. Nor is Florian Stütz, who is completely satisfied with the machine and the dealer. "