A pedal is used constantly in a forest machine, but it lives a rather anonymous life. You expect it to work, but do you expect to love a pedal? Well, the P11 pedal excels and has become a favourite among forest machine operators.
”When we designed our Vimek 870.1 Next Generation, I looked for and tested many pedals,” says Thomas Johansson, CTO at Vimek. ”We needed a wall-mounted pedal to save space in the cabin. When we found the P11 pedal, we were very pleased.”
Vimek is a small company that designs and manufactures small forest machines. It’s situated in the north of Sweden, in Vindeln, close to Umeå, and was established in 1907.
”We built our first forest machine at the end of the 1980s, and our target group was private forest owners who took care of their own forests,” explains Thomas. ”Small machines mean it’s easier to be gentle when you thin out young forests. The machine weighs less and spares the ground, and it’s slim, so it can easily move around the trees.”
Easy to customise
The machine is compact, but the cabin is quite spacious, soundproofed, and has large windows for a better view. It was important to find a wall-mounted pedal for two reasons: better ergonomics and more space.
”I am a tall person; I need space to feel comfortable,” Thomas says. ”Floor-mounted pedals take up too much space, and the angle isn’t optimal for the foot. With the wall-mounted P11, we could decide a perfect angle to make it feel comfortable.”
Vimek also appreciates that Caldaro delivered the pedal with customised connectors, which makes it easy to install. Plus, the price level is reasonable, and everyone knows Caldaro means high quality.
A pedal that makes a difference
They started to test drive machines with the P11 two years ago, and in 2022 they began to sell the compact Vimek 870.1 Next Generation forest machine with the P11 pedal.
In fact, they were so happy with the P11 that they started to use it in three older, updated models as well.
How much difference can a pedal make? Apparently, a whole lot! One of Vimek’s customers was very pleased when he talked to Thomas.
”He actually told us, ”I love that pedal!” which is proof that we made the right choice,” Thomas is pleased to say.
When Claudio Talamo, CEO of Caldaro, heard that, he became delighted and said: ”It’s actually remarkable that an operator even takes notice of a pedal! It shows that it pays off to care about ergonomics, function and design.”