Tractors in Switzerland

[dodge man]

We just got back from a trip to Switzerland and Italy. Most of two weeks was in Switzerland but a couple of days in Italy. Switzerland is an amazing country, it’s mostly the Alps and passes and valleys. Very rugged mountains. The entire country is about 3.5 times smaller than Illinois.

First off everything is smaller, tractors, trucks, construction equipment and even barns. They also appear to do mostly hay although we did see some small corn fields. They also work some very steep ground so there tractors are built vey low. I also didn’t see end loaders on tractors but I did see some skid steers. This first one seemed to be a typical tractor, I have no idea who makes it. Bucher?

This second one is the only bigger one I saw, a Fendt. They were using it to pull a dump trailer hauling fill at a construction site.

This last picture shows is the typical farm. You can see some of the steeper ground. They have a lot of these little barns, some the size of a one or two car garage. Edit, it’s the first picture, I had trouble getting it in.

 

[Jstpssng]

Nice pictures, thank you for sharing tbem.
Did you know that you stuttered? (2 identical posts)

 

[Thomas]

Those fellows have nerves of steel,also snowplowing the roads.

 

[dodge man]

Nice pictures, thank you for sharing tbem.
Did you know that you stuttered? (2 identical posts)

No I didn’t, a mod must have deleted it.

 

[chim]

Pretty place! There are a number of interesting videos on YouTube showing how they harvest on the slopes. One machine swivels to keep the operator sitting straight up.

 

[dodge man]

I saw a smaller backhoe on a steep slope. It had these really long stabilizers that must have been extendable to about 30 feet. They were extended down hill and kept it on the hill side and leveled it.

 

[BackRoad]

What I liked is the bells on each of the cows. It's musical to here them graze...

 

[CalG]

My eldest son and his wife recently wint to S. France for a holiday. (we got the kids!) While there, they attended some sort of agricultural fair with lots of farm tractors , old and new.

I've looked into the Hurlimann tractor history. Swiss... They go back a long time.

Mine is the SL&H version, things have changed.

 

[camshawn]

There have been lots of shorts on my Facebook this week. In really steep ground, there is a lot of walk behind “tractors”, small trucks that pick up hay and other crops, and lots of hand work. We have seen fields of sunflowers, rape seed, and other crops I can’t identify. One of the unique things are the trails that wind along the edges of the fields and sometimes even cross through them. Public access is a big thing. There are lots of big tractors, Deere, Fendt jump into my mind but I have seen others.

 

[CalG]

Do they have "right of Common: there?

 

[chim]

Check this:

 

[dodge man]

There was a lot of cattle grazing but I don’t know what there rules and laws are. We also walked on trails that cattle were on to. On the top of one mountain we went to there were these big adult sized three wheelers and then they switched to stand on bikes to ride down rest of the way. My son hit a cow patty on the trike first thing. It sounded funny when my daughter described it.
A picture of the trails but the cattle must be hiding.

 

[Yander]

Great pics @dodge man, Switzerland is one of the few places I would cross the pond to visit.

 

[dodge man]

Great pics @dodge man, Switzerland is one of the few places I would cross the pond to visit.

We flew into Geneva and flew back from Milan Italy. The flight back to Newark was about 9 hours. That’s a long flight but worth it. Incredible mountains. We spent most of our time in Lauterbraunen in a VRBO.
View attachment IMG_4498.jpegView attachment IMG_4497.jpeg

 

[veedub]

From what I understand they use a lot of small articulating tractors over there. Most of them are made in Italy. Google: Pasquali, Goldini, or Ferrari tractors. Low center of gravity with a center pivot articulation steering. Generally same size tires front and rear. Much better on side slopes. I actually have an older Pasquali here in the states. Great very cool little tractor, nearly impossible to get parts for though…

 

[sixdogs]

Great thread

 

[TMGT]

I would love to visit the Switzerland and Austria as that's my primary lineage.

 

[ultrarunner]

By happenstance attended several tractors meet ups in Austria and grandpa’s old tractor is often treated as a family heirloom passed down through the generations.

Not unusual for hundreds to gather and the 4H is a big deal for farm kids…

The single cylinder diesels from the 30’s and 40’s will probably live forever…

 

[Bavarian]

I saw a smaller backhoe on a steep slope. It had these really long stabilizers that must have been extendable to about 30 feet. They were extended down hill and kept it on the hill side and leveled it.

That was a Menze excavator. They are built for extreme duties like securing rock faces.

 

[dodge man]

That was a Menze excavator. They are built for extreme duties like securing rock faces.

You might be correct. It looked similar to this but was open station. It might have been an older version.