A typical autumn activity in Finland, a hunting operation is underway on Virontörmänkatu in the Tesoma region in Tampere - leaf hunting. The freezing, whirling wind spreads maple and birch leaves all around the yards. When the wind calms down, the wet leaves stick to each other and to the rough asphalt surface.
- We hunt these flyers and try to get them away from here before the snowfall," says Ari Saarela, yard work manager from Lännen Kiinteistöpalvelu Oy facility services, describing his current line of work.
On this windy afternoon the leaves are hunted with the help of two Wille 655 multi-process machines, leaf brushes with collector tanks - and Nokian TRI 2 tyres with a block tread pattern.
This medium-sized facility service company operates in four municipalities and has over forty employees performing property maintenance and building management tasks. Lännen Kiinteistöpalvelu has 12 machines for yard and plantation-related tasks, almost all of which are equipped with Nokian tyres.
Grip is key
When autumn becomes winter, the same machines will be used for snow-ploughing and sand-spreading. Lateral grip is a key property in these tasks.
- You can't always drive straight ahead at high speed; sometimes you have to move diagonally, Mr Saarela explains. He finds the changing seasons and independence to be positive elements in his job.
Precise grip is particularly needed when ploughing car park areas, which is like a slalom in icy yards - slipping is not an option; car owners are seldom happy with extra stripes on their vehicles.
No more idle spinning
Sometimes the snowplough needs to move rapidly. It is most irritating for the driver when the machine's tyres are spinning but the machine does not move an inch.
- If the tyre has no grip when ploughing, such empty spinning can add five or six minutes to one target's completion time. During heavy snowfall one machine works 12 hours per day, which means that lack of tyre grip can waste one working hour per day.
Mr Saarela notes that they have never had any problems with the Nokian TRI 2 tyres. The tyre holds its grip, even in difficult situations, and is delightfully durable, even in heavy use.
- Our machines and tyres complete a total of 1,000 - 1,200 operating hours per year. The tyre change interval has been approximately 6,000 hours," Mr Saarela calculates.
- And often this is also the change interval of the machine. We haven't changed tyre brands since there is no better alternative to Nokian.
A sturdy tyre
Leaf hunting in the autumn is no small task. Mr Saarela, who has been working in the field of property maintenance for over 25 years, is in charge of nearly 170 estates in the Tesoma region, and some of these comprise several buildings.
A quick turn close to the skip platform; leaf collector up, collected leaves down. It is time for a short break.
- In non-suspended machines such as this one, the tyre's driving comfort isn't a major factor for me, Mr Saarela says, sitting in his Wille. His higher priorities are the good load-carrying capacity and sturdy structure of the TRI 2 tyres. These are important properties when carrying a few cubic metres of sand or chippings in the machine's loader.
- And in the winter the machine is equipped with a plough and a sand spreader; this combination weighs approximately 7,000 kg. That's a lot of weight - you don't want to slide with that.
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