Volvo-powered Man Engine to tower of Hillhead in June

The UK’s largest mechanical puppet, the 11m-tall Man Engine, will make a special appearance at this year’s Hillhead construction equipment exhibition. Man Engine is powered by a Volvo L220 wheeled loader on loan from Volvo CE in the UK. It will be towering over the showgrounds during the exhibition at the Hillhead Quarry near the northern English town of Buxton June 26-28. The Man Engine – a miner wearing a miner’s hat – was created to celebrate the history of mining in the south-east English county o
April 3, 2018 Read time: 3 mins
A Volvo-driven thing: the 11m-tall Man Engine
The UK’s largest mechanical puppet, the 11m-tall Man Engine, will make a special appearance at this year’s 5894 Hillhead construction equipment exhibition.


Man Engine is powered by a 2394 Volvo L220 wheeled loader on loan from 359 Volvo CE in the UK. It will be towering over the showgrounds during the exhibition at the Hillhead Quarry near the northern English town of Buxton June 26-28.

The Man Engine – a miner wearing a miner’s hat – was created to celebrate the history of mining in the south-east English county of Cornwall. The Hillhead show is one of many events for the Volvo-powered Man Engine as it tours England and Wales this summer.

With only a handful of outdoor stands left to allocate, Hillhead 2018 will host more than 500 exhibiting companies for the first time. The area around the demonstration area at the top of the showground has been redesigned to accommodate additional static stands and demonstrations showcasing working plant.

Companies already booked in the newly expanded area include, among others: Weir Minerals Europe, MDS International, Red Rhino, Rees Machinery Group, MEKA Crushing and Batching Technology, Renault Trucks, Gap Hire Solutions and Indeco.

Demonstrations of excavators, loading shovels and dumptrucks at the quarry face will include the latest equipment from SMT GB (Volvo), 1413 Finning 178 Caterpillar, 718 Liebherr, 695 Doosan, 1240 Bell, 236 Hyundai, 2300 Komatsu and 176 Case among others will work excavators, loading shovels and dumptrucks at the quarry face.


A new 70m-long structure will be sited alongside the existing registration pavilion to boost its capacity to 90 exhibitors.

“With the main pavilion selling out before the end of last year and enquiries still flooding in, we have made the decision to extend again, creating the opportunity for an additional 30 exhibitors to attend,” said Richard Bradbury, Hillhead event director.

Those planning to attend can pre-register fir a free entry badge: www.hillhead.com

Visitors to this year’s show can also start planning their visit using the new online scheduling tool called Engage. Information on Engage is available on the Hillhead website.

Sponsored by the UK’s Institute of Quarrying, Engage helps locate a visitor’s favourite exhibitors as well as book appointments directly with exhibitors’ on-site teams. With the time-saving engage, visitors can explore the show, with personalised recommendations of exhibitors, news stories and show features.

For more information on companies in this article

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