The Berky GmbH (former Anton Berkenheger GmbH & Co. KG) is a
German company that manufactures
machine
A machine is a physical system using Power (physics), power to apply Force, forces and control Motion, movement to perform an action. The term is commonly applied to artificial devices, such as those employing engines or motors, but also to na ...
s, specialized
vehicles and
boats for water maintenance. The company is based in
Haren (Ems) in the
Emsland
Landkreis Emsland () is a district in Lower Saxony, Germany named after the river Ems. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Leer, Cloppenburg and Osnabrück, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (district of Steinfur ...
region.
History
The co-founder, farmer and chairman of the Meersbach Water and Soil Association, Anton Berkenheger received the first patent for a hydraulic, three-wheeled special
machine
A machine is a physical system using Power (physics), power to apply Force, forces and control Motion, movement to perform an action. The term is commonly applied to artificial devices, such as those employing engines or motors, but also to na ...
s for
mowing ditch banks in 1963. Together with the civil
engineer Gerhard Knoll and Josef Göcking, he founded Anton Berkenheger & Co. KG in
Haren-Erika.By 1968, they already employed 15 people.
In the same year, the company moved to a production facility at the
Haren harbour. In 1977, a new production facility was built in
Haren-Emmeln with a total area of 1,500 m
2 for production, storage and office. It was expanded in the following years to a total area of about 3,000 m
2. By the mid-1980s, the company was already manufacturing and distributing slope
mowers,
tractor attachments,
mowing boats and
forklift
A forklift (also called lift truck, jitney, hi-lo, fork truck, fork hoist, and forklift truck) is a powered industrial truck used to lift and move materials over short distances. The forklift was developed in the early 20th century by various c ...
s in Germany.
Since the 1990s, the distribution of special
vehicles and
machine
A machine is a physical system using Power (physics), power to apply Force, forces and control Motion, movement to perform an action. The term is commonly applied to artificial devices, such as those employing engines or motors, but also to na ...
s was also expanded abroad. At the end of 2015, the company Senwatec joined the Anton Berkenheger Group. This made it possible to produce other types of special boats, such as amphibious dredge boats. The company Gilbers from
Geeste also became part of Berky in 2019. Through this acquisition, additional mowing machines and attachments, such as
flail and double-knife
mowers, were produced.
Machines
Vehicles
The land
vehicles produced by Berky include a three-wheeled slope
mower, which was designed for
ditch clearing and embankment mowing.
Boats
Aquatic weed harvesters and mowing boats
Mowing boat with front clearing rake
Collecting and unloading waste from an Indonesian river
Berky produces a range of mowing boats and
aquatic weed harvesters. While mowing boats are equipped with different machines and tools, such as double knife T-cutting units or front collecting rakes, for cutting and collecting aquatic plants,
aquatic weed harvesters are able to cut plants at the front of the boat by using a U-shaped double-knife unit and simultaneously collect them on a loading area via a front conveyor belt that reaches underneath the water surface. In the reverse direction, the collected plant material is unloaded on shore via said conveyor belt.
Specialized garbage collecting boats
By using
aquatic weed harvesters, especially in the
Asian region, it was noticed that the specialized boats are also suitable for cleaning waters from
debris and removing
plastic waste. Due to this discovery, the
aquatic weed harvesters were converted into special
garbage
Garbage, trash, rubbish, or refuse is waste material that is discarded by humans, usually due to a perceived lack of utility. The term generally does not encompass bodily waste products, purely liquid or gaseous wastes, or toxic waste produc ...
collecting boats. The waste floating on the water surface is collected by the conveyor belt, that is reaching into the water and transported to the loading area of the boat. Nowadays, garbage collecting boats are used worldwide, for example in
Indonesia,
Slovakia or
Jamaica. Custom made aquatic weed harvesters can also retrieve larger debree or waste pieces by using a clamshell bucket.
Amphibious vehicles
The company also produces specialized
amphibious vehicles.
Tools and special machines
Aside from boats and land vehicles, Berky manufactures tools and machines for water maintenance. In addition to various
mowers, such as double-knife cutting units,
flail mowers or mowing baskets, the company also produces machines for
woodland maintenance, such as mechanic loppers and tree saws.
Gallery
Berky Weed harvester 6540.jpg, Aquatic weed harvester
weed harvester 6520 from Berky.jpg, Small aquatic weed harvester with U-shaped double-knife cutting unit
Berky Böschungsmäher Typ 2200.jpg, Three wheeled slope mower
Berky Dredge King Typ 6780.jpg, Dredge boat with hydraulic stilts and transport tube
Berky Mäh-Hark Kombi Typ 5200.jpg, Mower-rake combination
Berky Mähsammelboot Typ 6520.jpg, Aquatic weed harvester unloading Common water hyacinth
Berky handeführter Balkenmäher.jpg, Formerly produced hand-operated double-knife mower
Berky Mähboot historisch.jpg, Predecessor of the today produced mowing boat
External links
{{Commons category, Berky, position=right
Official website
References
Agricultural machinery manufacturers of Germany
Commercial vehicles
German companies established in 1964
Emsland
