Agriculture and forestry

In recent years, the importance of agriculture in our modern world has increased dramatically. It is not merely an industry whose task is to supply the needs of the population in terms of food, in view of current ecological discussions, it has taken on a function in addition to its food-producing classic role and is now also an energy supplier.

Increasing demand is accompanied, however, by new challenges. Ever shorter product cycles, the application of new, lightweight, environmentally compatible materials and the continuously changing division of labour make innovative developments and considerable flexibility absolutely essential.

Whether it is high altitudes, massive weights or low temperatures - agricultural machinery has to be able to cope with exceptional working conditions and is constructed accordingly. Very often, they are in action 24 hours a day. With these rugged machines, only products of the highest quality can be used.

Dirt, moisture, abrasion and high levels of mechanical loads result in high stresses, and all the components have to be designed and constructed to withstand them. The service lifetime of an agricultural machine can be much extended by selecting the optimum components and applying application-specific engineering. Particular emphasis is placed on the use of the best materials.
As well as the high mechanical loads that occur in many areas of agricultural machinery, the unfavourable ambient conditions are worthy of note. Besides moisture, the toughest factor to be dealt with is the dirt contamination that the machines are exposed to. On top of this, if the soil is sandy, it is extremely abrasive, while fertilisers and liquid manure are highly corrosive.

Materials with high strength ratings and low density are being used to an increasing degree.