Alexander van Oploo on his experience with the DTM Pruning Line

Alexander van Oploo has no fewer than three DTM Pruning Lines in operation at his nursery, Van Oploo Garden Plants. He shares his experience with DT Machinery: the collaboration, how the machine works, and the service he receives.
Van Oploo Garden Plants specializes in Photinia in various varieties. The plants are delivered to the end customer via an exporter; the company does not sell directly. The nursery operates on two sites in Bavel: one of eleven hectares and one of four hectares. For this smaller location, Alexander was looking for a machine that could prune quickly with high capacity—without compromising on quality.
During his search, he discovered that this combination is hard to find: more capacity often means less precision. For him, it was essential that the machine firmly holds the pot and that the circular blade rotates around it. Conveyor-style pruning lines were ruled out because they never prune perfectly straight on spherical plants. With these requirements, Van Oploo turned to DT Machinery. Together, they developed a machine that fully met his needs.

“DT Machinery is a small company with short lines of communication: if something comes up, you immediately get the right person on the phone. The service is perfect. I get help quickly, and in case of emergency they’re at my door within half a day.” – Alexander van Oploo

The start-up went smoothly. It wasn’t an off-the-shelf machine ready to go.
“I didn’t know DT Machinery beforehand, but through a fellow grower nearby I got in touch with them. Young people just starting out—I simply wanted to give them a chance. We worked together to figure out the best way to build it. I had my doubts at times, but they delivered on what they promised,” says the grower.
What really stands out for Alexander is that the blade cuts on both sides, the machine has multiple functions and modules, and it’s robust and easy to operate.

“Everyone should be able to work with it. That’s important nowadays: it has to be simple and user-friendly—and this machine is exactly that.”