UNSTOPPABLE David Wylie heads to Loch Lomond in Scotland to witness the Russian-designed Sherp Pro 1000 in action. Could this amphibious machine be the ultimate Utility Terrain Vehicle?
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he Utility Terrain Vehicle (UTV) market has increased considerably in recent years. Thanks to their hardtops and roll structures, they’re generally safer and offer more weather protection than ATV quadbikes. With the mainstream OEM’s pushing the development of these vehicles, the market has now exploded globally and UTV sales have overtaken ATV sales in many parts of the world. In what could be regarded as an UltraClass UTV market is the amphibious, Ukraine-manufactured Sherp. Sherp was founded in 2012. In 2015, the company introduced the Sherp amphibious allterrain skid-steer vehicle. In the last five years, 200 plus units have been built to ISO 9001 standards and sold worldwide through the company’s 27-strong dealer network. Here in the UK, sales and servicing of Sherp
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SPRING 2021 FORESTRY MACHINERY
IMAGES DAVID WYLIE products are through Sherp UK Ltd, run by a husband-and-wife team and a number of technical staff from a base in Westcott, Buckinghamshire. Sherp UTVs are incredibly versatile and are seeing service across all manner of industries, from oil and gas, and geological exploration to forestry and environmental control, transporting working crews to repair sites, delivering goods to remote areas, and even taking part in search and rescue activities (read about the UK’s first Sherp customer on page 52). To showcase its reliability and performance, in 2017 a Russian Sherp team undertook a seven-month expedition through Russia’s most hard-to-reach northern regions, successfully taking on the longest on-land 10,000km route above the Arctic Circle. Sherp only has one rival in the market, which is the Caterpillar-powered,
hydrostatically driven, joystick steered Fat Truck, made in Canada. This machine is coming to the UK soon and we’ll bring you a report when it does.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
We met up with Sherp UK’s Managing Director, Chris Atkey and Sales Director Yasya Atkey (Chris’ wife) to see the Sherp Pro 1000 being put through its paces in a relatively remote location near Loch Lomond in Scotland. At first glance, the Sherp Pro looks like something Bruce Wayne would have parked in the Batcave. Like all Sherps, the Pro model is designed to be rugged, hardworking and easy to maintain. Access to the driver and passenger area is via a front mounted, flip-down, water tight ramp that doubles as a step platform. Available in left-hand drive only, driving controls are
