Karolien is the third generation to work in the family business. They do landscaping and garden maintenance and specialize in private gardens. Karolien works on and in the gardens along with her husband, brothers and father. They are supported daily by their Knikmops.
International Women's Day - Karolien, Knikmops driver
What Knikmops are you driving? How did you equip it to your liking?
I drive a Knikmops KM 130 TE, we had it painted in green. We had an adjustable tow bar, a hand throttle and a comfort seat installed as options. As well as some working lights and a beacon. We need the telescopic arm for loading the container and with our approved safety cage that extra height is also good for pruning. We also have various attachments, so we can use the Knikmops in as many different tasks as possible.
How long have you had your Knikmops?
My father bought his first Knikmops about 15 years ago. This was a Knikmops KM 130, then without an extendable arm. However, my father put this question to Gebroeders Geens and they took it to the development table. About a year later, we were working with a telescopic Knikmops, well worth the wait!
I was working with my father at the time and learned to work with the Knikmops from an early age. So when the time came to buy an additional articulated loader, we chose Knikmops. Working with it immediately felt familiar to me and I know the quality. I was won over by the reliability of the wheel loader, there's not much to it. That's important to me anyway. We end up using the Knikmops a lot and for many different tasks. Then you need equipment that you can rely on.
What do you guys use the Knikmops for?
We use our Knikmops year-round for hauling and disposing of our material. We dispose of old vegetation, paving and other yard waste with the articulated loader, often with tile fork with claw. We haul stabilized sand, compost, topsoil and bark chippings with our large-volume bucket. In the summer we then use the Knikmops for pruning. We have an approved safety cage for safe pruning and working at height. All this saves us a lot of manual work.
Emptying a customer's compost pile used to take a good hour of manual labour, but now you do 4 trips with the Knikmops and the tile fork and the job is done. Unbelievable to see how it has now become automatic to use the Knikmops.
We work mostly in private gardens and it's not always easy to get the Knikmops into the garden. But we often try anyway. That way the work goes extra smoothly. It's been different with the wet weather of the past few months, but we can often guarantee that we have little rutting. The tires that are standard on a Knikmops KM 130 TE are very suitable for our work.
What is your favorite work with the Knikmops?
I think it's cool that the Knikmops allows us to alternate. In landscaping, there is still a lot of physical work and I like that too, but now you can usefully do some of this from the Knikmops and get some rest here too. The Knikmops itself can also vary its tasks, as we opted for a hydraulic fast attachment coupling on our articulated loader. When we prune, we often put the large-volume bucket underneath, which catches a lot of pruning waste and makes it easier to clean up afterwards. That saves time and manual labor.
What would you change about your Knikmops?
Not much, but I was so used to my father's Knikmops, where I can see very well with a rod whether the bucket is standing flat on the ground. Now with the large-volume bucket it is different, this one has peepholes to look on the blade of the bucket and I still catch myself out getting used to this. I also leave the hydraulic connection to my husband, this one could perhaps be a little more "woman" friendly. (laughs)
Do you sometimes get strange looks as a woman on the Knikmops?
No, our customers know us, so they don't look twice at this. All the better. I hope that my daughters will also drive the Knikmops later. If you've been used to it since childhood, it's easy to get involved.
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