Meet the Fleet

by Dylan Durkee, Fleet & Facilities Manager

As most people know, if they have ever been up to MFFC, our terrain is different than most places. Merck has an incredible forest, hiking trails, farm and location for other recreational activities - however, it is a different beast altogether to maintain. Most people see the view and landscape and stand in awe of its beauty -as I do- but to work on this land is very difficult with its steep slopes, high winds and snow that always adds up to be more than any surrounding land. Maintaining it all is a challenge but a challenge I like, especially with the new equipment that has been added to our fleet.

Lawn Mowers:

Altoz 766i (tracked mower) This mower allows us to mow wet lands , steep inclines and trail mowing.

Mean Green Vanquish this is our fully electrified mower running on NO emissions used on the farm and around the Visitor center

Tractor:

The John Deere 6320 tractor was added within this last year and does many of the demanding jobs around the farm and forest. We are able to use this tractor on the Log forwarder (Metavic). We use it with our snowblower, with our mowing conditioner (mowing hay for our animals), on the brush hog and for many other jobs. What makes this tractor so useful is the ease of operation and the cab that keeps you dry,warm and out of the harsh environment.

Metavic Log forwarder:

This piece of equipment is used for hauling firewood logs out of the woods to our landing and for hauling logs to the portable mill to be processed into lumber. We have had this Forwarder for around 3 years and it already has brought out around 250 cords of firewood and thousands of board feet in lumber. This piece is essential for our forestry operation.

Kubota 057-5 excavator:

Most people at Merck Forest can see the terrain but rarely do they see what is below and I can tell you from experience there is a lot of rock. This excavator helps us with ditching and foresty work. This machine makes heavy work look easy.

When you’re at MFFC make sure to stop by the shop, I would love to talk more about our fleet and operations!