MACHINE POWER Lännen Tractors Oy is based in Finland and produces construction machinery for demanding applications such as laying power lines and burying cables underground. Joseph Altham spoke to Lännen’s sales and marketing director, Mika Hänninen, to find out how Lännen’s machines help to keep the trains running during the Finnish winter.
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ännen Tractors is well known throughout the Scandinavian countries for its versatile and reliable machines. Lännen’s wheel loader backhoes are multipurpose machines that are widely used for infrastructure maintenance and on building sites, as well as for harvest work and in clearing the snow. Lännen manufactures the wheel loader backhoes in Loimaa, in south-west Finland. The Lännen Mobile Construction Equipment Group also includes a Swedish subsidiary, Lundberg, which manufactures multipurpose machines (tool carriers) at Skellefteå in northern Sweden. Overall, the Lännen MCE Group employs 150 people and has an annual turnover of around €45 million. The company has a strong presence in its home markets of Sweden and Finland, and also has dealers in several European countries including the Baltic countries, France, Slovenia and Spain.
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Lännen provides many different attachments for its tractors, such as hoists, ploughs and snow blowers, meaning that one machine can be adapted to perform many different tasks. Another advantage of the machines, says Mr Hänninen, is that they are stable and easy to use. “Few of our competitors can equal the stability of our machines, which are also outstandingly manoeuvrable. The people who use our machines really appreciate their ergonomic design, which makes the machine nice to drive.”
Cables and power lines In Finland and elsewhere, Lännen’s machines are often used to install overhead power lines and to lay cables underground. The ruggedness and stability of the machines make them well adapted to the task of installing overhead cables. The wheel loader backhoe’s superior
