Small articulated loaders are an up-and-coming wheeled category of compact equipment. These units are popular in Europe in both construction and farming, and now they're starting to migrate to America. Small articulated loaders or SALs are basically small wheel loaders, but they’re a little different. SALs have carved out a niche as a hybrid — something between a skid steer and wheel loader. They are some of the smallest sit-down tool carriers on the market. They are also a very attachment-focused type of machine but still steer by pivoting at the center like a wheel loader. This is also a great category for electrification because of its size and work cycles.

“Small articulated loaders make their living in short, productive bursts where the operator can easily jump off and do other work,” says Cooksy in the video above. “They need to be quiet, quick off the line, and ready for whatever attachment you throw at them.”

With those ideas in mind…

“Avant Tecno just built one that checks every box, and it doesn’t need to burn a drop of diesel to do it,” continues Cooksy. “Avant Tecno USA just rolled out a fully electric version of its popular 700 series platform, swapping the diesel engine for a lithium-ion battery pack built by the company’s own battery division. That pack feeds a single electric motor paired with a variable displacement drive pump, giving the machine roughly 3,000 pounds of lift capacity and a lift height of just over 10 feet.”

The e727 is one of the biggest electric SALs we’ve seen on the market, adding another battery option for folks interested in small tool carriers (especially ones working indoors and in noise or emissions-sensitive applications). Just so you know: We already gave Avant Tecno’s e727 a proper introduction when it arrived in North America via this fine feature story. Now Miles Cooksy is giving his spin on it with our latest Weekly Iron video. Enjoy that magic above. In this post, we don’t want to completely repeat our previous story on the e727, so we’re going to also highlight something else Avant Tecno does really well — accessories and attachments.

Watch the video, and then consider how you might upfit this latest electric loader. Avant offers more than 200 attachments across its loader lineup, along with options that can change how the e727 handles them. But before we get into that…

The e727 in one pass

• Lift capacity: 3,086 pounds (with 397 pounds of rear side weights)
• Maximum lift height: 121.3 inches, or just over 10 feet
• Auxiliary hydraulic flow: 10.6 gallons per minute at 2,900 pounds per square inch
• Width: 51 inches
• Weight: 4,390 pounds with the ROPS configuration
• Standard onboard charging time: Five hours and 30 minutes
• Battery: 27-kilowatt-hour Avant OptiTemp lithium-ion
• Drivetrain: Two-speed hydrostatic four-wheel drive
• Top travel speed: 8.7 miles per hour
• Cool feature: Autoshift changes drive ranges according to machine demand

Check out the crazy attachments and accessories

OK, you got all the numbers above. You got Cooksy explaining it all on video to you. Now, let’s talk about Avant’s attachment selection. It will send you down a rabbit hole. There are buckets, forks, grapples, graders, and the typical offerings, of course. Then, there’s off-the-wall implements like a beehive mover or an artificial turf blade. There’s weird and cool stuff like a giant toolbox that just sits on the front of the unit or this clever telescoping jib. You’ll need to make sure each style of attachment is available for the e727, but the list is quite impressive.

Avant Tecno also offers loads of accessories and options for each unit. There are technology offerings such as boom self-leveling, boom float, ride control (called Smooth Drive), and Opticontrol. Opticontrol allows the operator to access both the electric and the hydraulic functions of the attachment with the rocker switches on the control switch pack. It requires a six or eight function joystick. Then, there’s a zillion accessory options like work lights, beacons, counterweights, fire extinguishers, and trailer couplers.  

How would we upfit our e727?

We’re glad you asked. This would be a perfect machine for indoor demolition cleanup. Add a demolition grapple bucket, rear guard, and GT cab to move broken material out for processing. Or, we could see this unit doing hospital snow removal. Just pair an e727 with a cool U-blade (which has hydraulically adjustable wings), Opticontrol, snow chains, road traffic kit, reverse beeper, and another GT cab (gotta have one). Then clear entrances and sidewalks early in the morning without a diesel engine running and waking patients up. Now, how would you use it?

What other electric Avant options are there?

The e727 is Avant’s larger electric option in North America today. The company’s smaller e500 Series siblings, the e513 and e527, give buyers other sizes to consider. The e527 uses a 27-kilowatt-hour battery, like the e727, but has a listed lift capacity of 1,984 pounds. The e513 uses a smaller 13-kilowatt-hour battery. We understand that battery-powered equipment is a small fraction of the off-highway equipment market today, but we’re excited to see these emissions-free options continue to give contractors expanded options. Maybe go check one out.

But before you go, maybe watch that video above. Then, subscribe to our YouTube page. Then, yes, get going.