ARI 458 Pro Tipper at Work During the Olive Harvest on Hvar Island

On Hvar, one of the sunniest islands on Croatia’s Dalmatian coast, the olive harvest is part of autumn just as much as the lavender fields are part of summer. Among dry-stone walls, terraces and narrow farm tracks, olives are harvested and taken to the oil mill as quickly as possible: the shorter the journey from tree to press, the better the oil. Since this season began, an ARI 458 Pro with an aluminium tipper body has been making exactly these trips on Hvar.

Until now, an ageing Suzuki passenger car had been doing the job. The vehicle was showing its age and was never really designed for harvest work: crates and sacks had to be loaded and unloaded by hand, while space and payload were limited. The ARI has made the process much easier. Olives are loaded straight into the tipper body in the grove and driven to the oil mill without being transferred. There, the load can be tipped out instead of unloaded by hand. The aluminium body is lightweight and corrosion-resistant, making it well suited to the island’s salty climate.

Protective bumpers at the front and rear help shield the bodywork during off-road work. Contact with dry-stone walls, branches and narrow access tracks can happen quickly, and the additional protection absorbs the knocks typical of day-to-day work. At around 3.82 metres long and 1.49 metres wide, the ARI 458 Pro can also reach tracks that are too narrow for larger flatbed trucks.

A distinctive feature of this vehicle is the solar system on the roof of the cab. On an island with so many hours of sunshine as Hvar, making use of this energy is an obvious choice. The system supports the vehicle’s power supply while it is in use, while the electric drive travels through the olive groves with no exhaust emissions and very little noise.

With a payload of up to 850 kg and more than 30 body variants, the ARI 458 Pro is a versatile work vehicle for agriculture, wine and fruit growing, and any business that needs to move substantial loads over short distances.

Discover the ARI 458 Pro tipper: with an aluminium tipper body, up to 850 kg payload, and configurable for agriculture, fruit growing and viticulture.