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Finnish man bags Guinness record for longest journey on telehandler

There is no questioning Leo Terqujeff ‘s passion for his job. The Finland-based Merlo after sales service technician has a Merlo tattoo on his arm but the dedication does not stop there.

As his retirement and the Merlo brand’s 50th anniversary both drew closer, Terqujeff hatched a crazy idea to celebrate the milestones – that is to travel 4000km halfway across Europe on a Merlo P25.6 telehandler.

Terqujeff, or Leo-Manne as he is known to friends, embarked on the 33 day journey on April 28 from Italy.

After travelling through Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark and Sweden, Turguieff finally arrived in his home country, Finland on June 12.

As a result, Guinness Book of Records has given him a space in its coveted annual tome for “The longest journey aboard a telehandler”.

Terqujeff ‘s arrival was celebrated at the official home of Merlo’s Finnish importer Rotator with an exciting event following Terqujeff’s last few kilometres live thanks to a camera mounted in the cabin and the Merlo mobility geolocation system.

Critical to Terqujeff’s conquest, the Merlo mobility geolocation system was used to map the progress of his journey and presented the data Guinness needed to certify the world record.

It was also used to remotely control the health of the P25.6 to ensure it was safe for the gruelling drive.

Merlo says Terqujeff’s feat is proof of the durability of Merlo products and the quality of the xompany’s hydrostatic transmissions, as the machine did not falter throughout the record–breaking journey.

What’s perhaps more impressive is the fact that the P25.6 is the most compact product Merlo has on offer.

Although small, Merlo says there is no compromise when it comes to the comfort and performance of the telehandler as it is capable of reaching 36km/h and has a 1010mm wide cabin; firsts for its size category.

A logbook of Terqujeff’s entire journey can be found on Merlo’s website.

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