Earthmoving & soil compaction

Kobelco has unveiled seven new mini-excavators below 3tonnes at INTERMAT 2015 in Paris as a result of a major agreement with construction equipment manufacturer Yanmar. The deal increases the options for Kobelco customers and potential customers who work in extremely tight environments. “INTERMAT is our first announcement and roll out of these models,” said Sander Gesink, Kobelco’s brand marketing manager.

Case Construction Equipment is gearing up to assemble excavators at its plant in Italy as part of company’s repositioning within the global marketplace, which was announced last May. The excavators will be from Sumitomo, Case’s long-term Japanese partner, said Andy Blandford, Case’s vice president for construction equipment in Europe, Middle East and Asia.

Case’s new D-Series crawler excavator for the European market is not just a tweaked version of its predecessor, the C-Series, but is radically different, and is also designed for a new job specification. “They’re more robust, they’re heavier and meant for a more rugged job likely to be found on extreme road building sites and in quarry projects,” said Antonia Strati, product and training manager in the company’s construction division. But at the same time the CX250D, 350D and 370D are much more productive a

Paris-based construction and civils equipment rental firm Loxam has taken a 25% stake in Brazilian rental equipment business Degraus. Degraus, formed in 1987, is one of the South American country’s top five rental outfits, with a strong presence in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Recife, Salvador and Porto Alere.

Volvo’s Chinese manufacturing subsidiary SDLG is making inroads into the export market and could be destined to play a much more important role in the Swedish group’s global strategy. “As we grow our export strategy there is an opportunity for SDLG to become an increasingly larger piece of our total revenue,” said Martin Weissburg, president of Volvo Construction Equipment.

Liebherr has taken the wraps off the R960 demolition rig, a 93.5 tonne crawler with a choice of 28m and 34m boom configurations. A replacement for the previous R954C, the R960 is powered by a 240kW Stage IV diesel engine and features the latest Liebherr Demolition Control (LDC) active safety system.

Shanghai firm Lonking continues to grow its excavator business, moving away from its previous reliance on wheeled loaders. New model introductions are key to the development of the firm’s excavator range, with three larger models being seen at bauma China.

Hitachi has unveiled a new range of hydraulic excavators at bauma China 2014. High performance, productivity and durability are claimed. The models on show range from the powerful 69tonne ZX690LCH-5A to the 16.8tonne ZX170LC-5A.