The five years for which the Rovaniemi-based Koneyhtymä Mustonen has been in operation have included rapid growth as well as a third Lännen multipurpose machine. In honour of this, it was decided that the latest Lännen machine would be given an impressive visual look, and the end result is a versatile Lännen 8800M that also makes for a great calling card for the company.
In Rovaniemi, the pavement season is going strong, the temperatures are soaring and Midsummer is approaching. We find the new Lännen 8800M of Koneyhtymä Mustonen and Kristian Mustonen, the owner himself, at the foundation construction site of a car park.
What immediately draws our attention in the machine is its appearance, as is intended. Inspiration was sought from places such as Sweden, which seems to be considerably ahead of Finland with regard to the customization of machines’ appearance, and many stylishly customized Lännen machines have also been seen there.
- Yeah, we were going for a similar style here, and because this was the first machine we bought new, I decided to add all the extra flavours, Kristian says. The previous machines, 8600G and 8800K, were purchased used, and no particular customization was carried out on them.
- Everything was installed for us at the factory, Mustonen praises.
- The only thing we added ourselves is the valances in the cabin, he continues. At this point in the article, we should explain that velvet valances with fringes have also gradually found their way inside the cabins of customized machines as a result of the decades-long and accelerating tradition of customizing trucks.
Of course, the machine, which was customized down to its interior, was primarily purchased to be a tool. This was not forgotten in the purchase phase, even though a lot of attention was paid to the machine’s appearance in the form of colours, lights, a light bar and stickers, for example.
- We added everything that we had come up for our previous machines over the last years. To make sure we have no regrets later, Kristian sums up his way of thinking.
Kristian Mustonen became a machine entrepreneur straight out of school in 2017. Where others usually look for a summer job or a permanent job after completing a vocational qualification, Kristian set up his own company a week before the end of school.
Solutions perfect for work
One of the new features found to be important and useful is the remote operation of the machine, the necessity of which is easy to understand in pavement work.
- Being able to control the machine while standing right next to the bucket makes things easier in places such as small customer locations, which usually means cramped places and yards, Kristian says as an example.
- Or if you are alone at a location and simultaneously acting as a spotter, you can operate the machine from the yard and move the plate compactor without going in and out of the machine. And you can also move the buckets and tools to and from the trailer, he continues. Oh yes, a trailer is also available for the machine. It is used as a convenient way to transport tools between sites.
- Easier and more functional than trying to transport everything in the front bucket, Mustonen remarks.
Timo Seppänen, Skanska Asfaltti’s regional manager for Rovaniemi, characterises Mustonen’s Lännen machine as an excellent tool for speeding up the work in the area.
- Thanks to the machine, manual work has clearly decreased, and a multipurpose machine also speeds up work because it replaces several machines. And since we work in the city center, for the most part, the trailer is an easy and convenient way to bring all the necessary tools with us, Seppänen remarks.
Being able to control the machine while standing right next to the bucket makes things easier in places such as small customer locations, which usually means cramped places and yards, Kristian Mustonen says.
Every new model brings improvements
Kristian Mustonen says that he appreciates several small yet important improvements in the M model, which make daily work go smoother.
- For example, these storage boxes are awesome. Watertight cases keep the items clean and dry, and the tools don’t take up space inside the cabin.
Kristian also praises the new machine for being sturdier than the previous ones, and the weight distribution is steady even when moving without the front bucket. The hydraulics are also at a convincing level.
- When placing the order, we ordered everything that we could get plus a little more, so we’re not lacking anything, he says.
In the summer, the work primarily comprises pavement work with the Skanska crew, but with winter comes winter maintenance, which involves using a bucket and ploughing snow as well as moving snow with a snow blower attached to a backhoe digger. If necessary, a road grader package can be installed to the front end, so the machine has a variety of features for year-round use.
Thanks to the machine, manual work has clearly decreased, and a multipurpose machine also speeds up work because it replaces several machines. And since we work in the city center, for the most part, the trailer is an easy and convenient way to bring all the necessary tools with us.
You can do a wheel loader’s work with a wheel loader and an excavator’s work with an excavator. With this machine, you can do both, Kristian Mustonen concludes.
An entrepreneur straight out of school
Kristian Mustonen became a machine entrepreneur straight out of school in 2017. Where others usually look for a summer job or a permanent job after completing a vocational qualification, Kristian set up his own company a week before the end of school.
Today, Koneyhtymä Mustonen has this Lännen multipurpose machine as well as four Ljungby wheel loaders at embankment sites. Much of the work is carried out in the company’s home region, but the Rovaniemi-based company, which employs seven people, operates throughout Finland – at the time of the interview, one team was working all the way in Varkaus, for example.
Mustonen says that the first Lännen multipurpose machine was added to the shopping list back in the day because Kristian felt that a wheeled excavator’s operating season is very short. The machine had to be versatile and offer earning potential throughout the year.
- And then this swept me off my feet, and I haven’t really been able to consider other options since then because I’m so used to this, he explains.
- You can do a wheel loader’s work with a wheel loader and an excavator’s work with an excavator. With this machine, you can do both, Mustonen concludes.
And no further verbal arguments are necessary, as only a moment later the machine is already transporting crushed material from a pile in order to spread it into the foundation of the car park with the backhoe.
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