Shaun Groom traces his profession journey from driving and repairing discipline bikes on Northfolk farmyards to main the UK operation of the family-owned Italian OEM, Merlo
From successful BMW Apprentice of the Yr in 1993, to delivery refurbished telehandlers to New Zealand’s movie trade within the 2000s, Shaun Groom’s profession has been outlined by a permanent fascination with engines – and now, more and more, with what may exchange them.
We meet Groom on the Merlo stand on the PlantWorx development expo in Newark, UK, grabbing a cup of espresso in amongst the OEM’s distinct green-liveried automobiles, with music from the stand’s demo space offering an upbeat soundtrack to our chat.
“My household background was in plant rent and agriculture,” Groom tells us. “I grew up in rural Norfolk, and something with an engine fascinated me as a toddler. So I had discipline bikes and I had vehicles earlier than I might drive formally, and I’d all the time labored on them.”
That early ardour led him to a BMW dealership for his apprenticeship, the place he turned one of many producer’s prime apprentices and earned a visit to Germany. “BMW had been one of many pioneers of CANbus expertise,” says Groom. “So, we had been utilizing multiplex-type wiring again within the late 80s, early 90s.” He even drove a hydrogen-powered BMW 7 Collection in 1993. “I keep in mind the boot was utterly full of the tank!”
However in 1995, Groom left the automotive world for agricultural equipment. After working for numerous sellers within the UK, he spent three years in New Zealand within the early 2000s, the place he first encountered Merlo telehandlers by way of an Irish acquaintance on the OEM.
When Groom returned from New Zealand, his deliberate employment fell by way of, resulting in an entrepreneurial enterprise exporting used Merlo telehandlers to New Zealand principally to be used in lighting rigs for the movie trade, which was booming off the again of The Lord of the Rings blockbusters.
“Merlo on the time couldn’t produce sufficient new machines,” says Groom. “I used to be sourcing very tidy used machines in Germany, refurbishing them to a excessive normal, and delivery them to New Zealand.”
Nevertheless, unpredictable revenues from his enterprise led Groom to hunt everlasting employment. Consequently, he spent the following 15 years with an Austrian agricultural implement producer Pottinger, rising from product specialist to managing director within the UK.
Extra just lately, Merlo got here calling. “I had recognized the enterprise for a very long time and had a whole lot of respect for the product and the household,” says Groom. “I used to be glad in my job, however I noticed a whole lot of alternatives at Merlo, and potential challenges, which I thrive on.”
Constructing from inside
After practically 5 years into his tenure as common supervisor at Merlo UK, Groom has a deep understanding of the strengths of the machines and emphasises the Italian producer’s distinctive strategy to manufacturing. “Sometimes, we’re making round 92% of the parts ourselves in home,” he says. “And that’s essential for the enterprise. It was confirmed to be a very good technique in the previous few years with supply-chain challenges – it put us in a robust place.”
“I grew up in rural Norfolk, and something with an engine fascinated me”
The corporate serves each agricultural and development sectors, with refined however essential variations between machines for every market. “In agriculture, the machines are typically used extra intensively,” says Groom. “On a livestock operation, a machine is being utilized in extra of 1,000 hours a 12 months. In a typical development utility it’s 500 hours a 12 months.”
Agricultural machines additionally face harsher circumstances. “Whether or not it’s slurry, fertilizer, water or mud, the machines are inclined to work in excessive circumstances,” he says. “Whereas in development, you’re usually engaged on concrete yards.”
Subsequently, Merlo’s agricultural telehandlers have extra highly effective engines to ship the required further capability required. Nevertheless, development fashions have larger attain – as much as 35m in rotating variations, whereas agricultural machines sometimes max out round 11m, as the very best work they’re normally do is stacking straw bales.
The electrical query
Standing beside Merlo’s eWorker at PlantWorx, Groom discusses the corporate’s transfer into electrification with the pragmatism of somebody who’s spent many years round engines. The eWorker, which is available in twoor four-wheel drive variations, has confirmed significantly profitable in agriculture. Groom believes an enormous purpose for that is strain from retailers and shoppers. “There’s a whole lot of transparency within the meals provide chain,” says Groom. “Supermarkets are actually seeking to farmers to display their inexperienced credentials.”
“The largest challenges I see are within the manufacturing, availability, distribution and storage of other fuels”
The four-wheel drive eWorker is powered utilizing both lead-acid or lithium batteries produced be fellow Italian agency FAAM. It makes use of 4 electrical motors – one on every entrance wheel hub and one on the axle on the rear – plus a fifth motor driving all of the hydraulics. This 12 months, the machine earned a gold medal from the Royal Highland Agricultural Society of Scotland, a key a part of which was based mostly on suggestions from operators within the discipline.
“We’ve acquired them not solely in farms in Scotland but in addition in a whisky distillery,” says Groom. “The enchantment for them isn’t any fumes or combustion, as a result of one in all their large issues is hearth threat.”
Apparently, over 90% of eWorker gross sales are lead-acid batteries fairly than lithium. “Quite a lot of that comes right down to end-of-life,” he says. “With lead acid, it’s a totally recyclable product. With lithium you possibly can eliminate it, however technically there’s nonetheless no restoration course of.”
There’s additionally current data to leverage. “The lifttruck trade has used lead-acid for years,” says Groom. “We’re promoting these into locations the place they’ve had lift-trucks. So that they’re acquainted with lead acid. They’ve acquired the charging tools.”
Rental resistance
Whereas agriculture has embraced electrical telehandlers, the development rental sector has been slower. “Renters usually are not ready to pay a premium for electrical,” says Groom. “They count on to lease an electrical machine for a similar worth as a diesel, or probably much less, as a result of they imagine they’re taking a threat.”
This frustrates him, given the expertise’s maturity. “My views are somewhat completely different – it’s truly extra of a recognized amount,” he says. “Electrical propulsion has been round for years. Milk was delivered to just about each dwelling within the UK by electrical propulsion 50 years in the past.”
He additionally attracts on his father’s profession in heavy plant upkeep for perspective. He labored on large electrical draglines and face shovels in opencast mines. “These big machines transfer hundreds of tons of soil a day utilizing electrical energy,” says Groom. “It was essentially the most environment friendly technique to do it. The quantity of diesel required to propel these machines can be phenomenal and tough to get to that space.”
The infrastructure hole
Trying forward, Groom sees the way forward for zero-emission equipment as nonetheless unclear: “The consensus is blended, whether or not it’s electrical, methane or hydrogen. These artificial fuels are clearly in improvement.”
Merlo works with 4 engine OEM companions – Perkins, FPT, Deutz, and Rehlko (previously Kohler) – all creating various fuels. “It’s acquired to be commercially viable, it’s acquired to be sensible,” says Groom. “The largest challenges I see are within the manufacturing, availability, distribution and storage of other fuels. With an electrical machine we all know the place we will cost it,” he says. “That may’t at present be mentioned for various fuels.”
For transition to succeed, he believes, governments should act. “There needs to be motivation and drive from governments to make it occur,” he says, “They’ve acquired to spend money on infrastructure to help the transition. We’ve had decade upon decade of inner combustion engines – if we’re going to see any sort of transition, there additionally must be monetary incentives within the type of tax aid or direct subsidies.”
Standing beside machines representing each Merlo’s electrical and diesel ranges, Groom embodies the trade’s bridging technology – engineers comfy with each combustion and electrons, formed by hands-on mechanical roots however navigating in direction of a zero-emission future. “It’s all the time been ‘something with an engine’ for me,” he says. “However, the truth is, not all of them have engines anymore.”
This text first appeared within the October situation of iVT
