Driving impression: Avant 750 artic loader Offering more power and a 400kg hike in lift over the established Avant 600 loader, the recently launched Avant 700 series follows the same proven template: hydrostatic drive, articulated steering, telescopic mono-boom and front-mounted operator platform. James de Havilland operates this most intriguing little handler
Manufactured in Finland, the Avant range of articulated wheeled loaders has always catered for the smaller end of the materials handling market. The firm’s diminutive 200 series offers a lift capacity of 350kg, this rising to 750kg and 1,000kg for the 500 and 600 series, respectively – the sort of figures that position the Avant firmly in skid-steer loader territory.
With a larger 1,400kg capacity, the 700-series machines are still seen as competitors to the high-end skid-steers, but their extra 0.4t of lift muscle is enough to give them the potential to rival a ‘yard’ tractor loader, too. Imported by Avant Techno (UK) Ltd, the new Avant 700 models share the same front end as the existing 600 series units which, in turn, are marketed in a choice of 28hp 630 and 37.5hp 635 flavours, the latter providing a decent power-to-weight ratio from its 1,380kg unballasted chassis.
Weighing in at 1,720kg plus, the 49hp Avant 750 is heavier, and it is this bulk that enables it to lift that much more – before the integral safety lock-out comes into action.
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