Knoll bv sees its Garden & Park division grow rapidly |
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Dealer speaks
The editorial team visited Knoll B.V. in Staphorst, an all-round company with three business units: Mechanization, Garden & Park, Baling & Wrapping, and dealer of, among others, Massey Ferguson. The Garden & Park division is managed by Erwin Balder.
| Balder describes the mechanic's profession as challenging and interesting thanks to automation. |
According to Erwin Balder, with forty years of experience Knoll is one of the oldest Stihl dealers in the Netherlands. In the showroom, Stihl and Stiga take a prominent place. 'Our Garden & Park division received a significant growth boost after the relocation from Rouveen. Since 2019, we have been fully established at a new business park in Staphorst,' says Erwin Balder, who has now been with Knoll for six years. 'Through our agricultural branch we have always had many contacts with surrounding municipalities and water boards. Initially, the focus within Garden & Park was on Stiga, Kärcher, and Stihl. Later, we added dealerships of Iseki, Ferris, Honda, Limpar, and robot mowers from Segway and FJDynamics.'
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'Through our agricultural branch we already had many contacts with surrounding municipalities'
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'In addition, we now supply osmosis systems from DemiClean as well as battery-powered pruning equipment from Volpi. This has strongly expanded our offering for water and recreation boards, campsites, and landscaping companies, as well as our working area. Our Garden & Park division is developing rapidly and we are growing fast. At the same time, we notice that it remains a challenge to find enough technical staff. With five employees we are already strong, but there is still great potential to serve even more projects and customers.'
 | | A wide representation of Stihl in the showroom |
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Webshop
In addition to the expansion of dealerships, the webshop is also an important growth factor. During the corona period, Knoll launched its own online store. It offers a wide range of garden machines and accessories with clear explanations, images, and videos. 'Webshop customers receive the same personal attention from us as in the store. We like to think along with their purchase. That is why we are always available by phone, email, or chat for questions or advice. With every order we include a handwritten thank-you note, and customers greatly appreciate that,' says Balder.
Professional robot mower
In 2024, Knoll became a dealer of professional robot mowers from the Chinese brand FJDynamics. 'We have demonstrated the FJDynamics robot mower, which can be expanded with a line marker kit to mark field lines, at many sports clubs,' says Balder. 'We already have several machines running at local football clubs, and soon we will install two more machines at two football clubs. A professional football organization has also shown interest in this machine. Thanks to the optional line marker kit, I find it an interesting machine because the shortage of volunteers at sports clubs is becoming increasingly urgent. The large battery-powered robot mower from FJDynamics does not use small, thin mowing blades that fold away at an obstacle, but a solid fixed mowing blade. That is a big advantage in my opinion. Hitting a small branch during mowing causes no problems. The robot mower works with rtk GPS and, according to factory specifications, can maintain over 90,000 square meters of grass. That means multiple pitches at one sports complex. The mowing pattern is neat and the price is attractive.'
 | | Team leader Balder with the FJDynamics robot mower/line marker |
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Learning to adapt
Knoll also believes that battery-powered hand tools and machines are the future. 'We can calculate for the customer what the financial benefits are of a battery-powered machine compared to a fuel-powered one,' says Balder with a smile. 'There are more and more battery-driven machines and tools. However, a robot mower cannot do everything. As a dealer, we look forward to the arrival of Stiga's electric front mower and also to a professional battery-powered scarifier and auger from Stihl, so as not to lag behind other manufacturers.'
 | | The Stihl PolyCut mowing head |
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'However, end users must learn to work differently with a battery-powered machine compared to a gasoline-powered one. The battery choice and accessories you use are very important. Take a brush cutter, for example: if you constantly run it at full throttle in tall grass with mowing line, the battery will be drained very quickly by the resistance of the line. A blade generally encounters much less resistance than line when mowing grass. We once helped a dissatisfied professional customer who complained about battery life when mowing tall grass along posts. We visited the customer on site to test the machines with a Stihl PolyCut mowing head. This works with plastic cutting blades that encounter less resistance in tall grass than trimmer line and do not cause damage when hitting a post. It turned out that battery life was doubled in combination with the PolyCut head and mowing in the right gear.'
Service and maintenance
Direct contact between the mechanic and the customer for maintenance and repairs is very important at Knoll. The mechanics work both in the Garden & Park workshop and in the service van with work orders on a tablet. Balder: 'This way, they immediately know whether a part is in stock or needs to be ordered. We handle breakdowns in the order in which they are reported, and for machine inspections we employ two VA-certified inspectors. They can also perform inspections on location if required.'
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'Two VA-certified inspectors employed'
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Talking about Knoll bv's staff, Balder explains: 'Traditionally, we are a regional company where employees know each other well through local (football) clubs in Staphorst and Rouveen. Outside of work, we also regularly have contact with each other. At the company, we all take breaks together; on Fridays, there is a snack at lunch, and we end the week together with a drink. Although the mechanic's profession offers many new challenges and is interesting thanks to automation, unfortunately young people nowadays prefer another profession. This is the case even though we offer the possibility of a 32-hour working week. In our Garden & Park division, we are happy to report that the open mechanic vacancy has been filled. Our new apprentice receives the right guidance and practical experience here to learn all the tricks of the trade. Together we are building a strong team for the future.'
This article was previously published on 26 September 2025 on the website
of Stad + Groen.
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