West Lothian is Winter Ready with Multihogs
West Lothian Council is well prepared to deal with the effects of any bad weather this winter as it has taken delivery of two Multihogs with gritter, snow plough and snow blower attachments. The very harsh conditions during the last few years prompted research into new methods for treating and clearing its network of around 950 km of roads and 1000 km of footways. With a focus on the best possible use of budget and maximum utilisation of vehicles, the Multihog stood out from other equipment due to its ability to be fitted with wide ranging attachments for very cost effective operation. The heavy duty snow blower makes light work of deep snow removal, and the Multihog's ability to simultaneously operate front and rear attachments comes into its own with the combination of the rear mounted 1m³ capacity gritter and front mounted hydraulic lift, tilt and angle snow plough. The Multihog's powerful performance will enable efficient clearance of farm roads, rural secondary routes and schools, whilst its compact dimensions also make it ideal for accessing more confined spaces such as link areas around shopping complexes. "By augmenting our existing winter resilience fleet with the Multihogs, we will be able to improve the effectiveness of our snow clearing service across West Lothian," says Supervisor of Road Services Tom Ward. "We were very impressed with the quality of manufacturing and Multihog's developers collaborate with some excellent attachment companies, such as the German manufacturer of the snow blower." When the winter season is over West Lothian will be looking to add other applications to their remit. A patch planer is likely to be first on the list, thanks to its ability to carry out permanent carriageway repairs in a fraction of the time needed by a larger machine that cannot travel under its own power. Tom sums up: "The beauty of the Multihog is that it is never likely to sitting idle whatever the time of year."