News

Construction testing equipment manufacturer Humboldt has the strongest forward order book ever, said general manager John Lamond at Conexpo. The firm relocated at the end of last year to a bigger manufacturing facility: a 6,970 sq m factory in Elgin, Illinois. “We needed to expand,” said Lamond. “It’s a bigger and better location for us as a growing business.”

Donaldson has developed a new range of heavy-duty hydraulic filter systems for mid-pressure applications, called the FLK series. The cartridge-type filter includes a re-usable bowl that carries a raised rib profile – the latter allowing the filter housing to be tightened and released without the need for tools or filter wrenches. Locking tabs on the cartridge filter have been included to help correctly locate the cartridge within its bowl. The FLK series uses Donaldson’s Synteq XP filter media to resist

The International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) and the North American National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators (NCCCO) have joined forces to raise awareness of the dangers of working near to overhead power lines. Speaking at Conexpo 2014, both organisations have found that a high percentage of reported fatalities involving either aerial work platforms or mobile cranes - almost 50% in the case of cranes - involve collisions with overhead power lines. Given that most work platform o

Castrol claims that its latest semi-synthetic engine oil, Hypuron AF, can extend oil drain intervals significantly with the introduction of a new additive pack. The firm said its 10W30 oil has the ability to double oil drain intervals from the near industry standard 500hours to 1000hours with the use of frequent oil analysis. It has been drawing on the experience of several US mine and quarry operators who are already achieving 1250hour oil change intervals, who are chasing a target of 1400hour for their

Esco Corporation launched six new products or expanded product lines at Conexpo. The Ultralok tooth system, designed specifically for the construction industry, has expanded to fit more machines, including bolt-on adapters for many popular wheeled loaders and several new point shapes for utility and quarry applications. Ultralok is hammerless and integrated with the point, thus making field replacement safer, easier and faster. Esco’s embedded E3 tungsten carbide blades are said to deliver up to five ti

ZF used Conexpo to reveal a production-ready version of its NMV pto gear drive system. Mounted between the engine and transmission of a vehicle, the NMV assembly allows an auxiliary mechanical drive to be engaged without having to the run the driveline through a transmission.

Chicago Pneumatic is to launch a new range of light towers for the European and international markets. Announced at Conexpo, the two new light towers will suit a variety of applications across the construction, mining and oil and gas industries, as well as public sector lighting and entertainment. “The new light tower range will live up to Chicago Pneumatics’ well-known reputation for ease-of-use, reliability and manoeuvrability: both light towers have been carefully designed to be extremely easy to posit

Yanmar has added two new models of compact loader to its range that meet Tier 4 Final emissions regulations. The T210-1 compact tracked loader and S270V-1 skid steer loader share a 52kW 4TNV98CT engine that meets Tier 4 Final emissions using a diesel particulate filter combined with common rail fuel injection and cooled exhaust gas recirculation (EGR). With an operating weight of 3.69tonnes and a rated operating capacity of 1.22tonnes, the S270V-1 skid steer loader offers a 19.2km/h travel speed with the

“The theme of the Conexpo booth this year is to introduce LiuGong as a full line OEM Supplier to the North American market. We’ve also introduced our Tier 4 engines on our dozer range, as well as our skid steers and we’ve also announced our entry into the 50tonne excavator market with the 950A,” said Marc Dowdell, president LiuGong Construction Machinery, North America. “The North American market is relatively stable or flat compared to last year, which saw an artificial blip due to the build-up from contra

A brave new business model which promises to deliver Chinese construction equipment with US-style customer support and after-sales service to the North American market was launched at Conexpo on Wednesday. Customers can buy machines online at between 30 and 45% less than competitor products, according to new company International Construction Products (IPC) Direct.

Wacker Neuson’s preliminary results make promising reading, with group revenue rising by 6% in 2013 to €1,160 million. Since 2009, revenue has almost doubled, rising from €597m. Speaking at Conexpo, CEO Cem Peksaglam stated the group’s intent to grow its business outside Europe: “Over 70% of our revenues are in Europe, but that proportion has been falling for the past two years, which is strategically important,” he said, “because in the long-term, we believe that the European share will fall to 50-55% and

Despite the downturn in its home country of Italy, attachment manufacturer Simex has seen a year-on-year rise in revenue of around 8.5%, from €19.5m in 2012 to €21.3m in 2013. “All our growth came from outside the domestic market and mainly outside Europe,” said Federico Tamburri, assistant general manager at Simex. “Sales in Central and South America and Asia led to this increase.”

John Deere Power Systems (JDPS) revealed a new technology solution at Conexpo for John Deere diesel engines installed in OEM equipment. Called PowerSight, the telematics system features four John Deere technologies: the JDLink machine monitoring system; machine health prognostics; remote diagnostics and programming; and the PowerAssist app. All four elements integrate seamlessly to help customers manage their John Deere-powered OEM equipment.

Trimble is offering the integration of LOADRITE X2350 excavator scales and L2180 wheel loader scales with its latest management software. LOADRITE weighing systems help increase productivity and efficiency for excavator and wheel loader operations, allowing material movements to be tracked and creating more efficient loading.

FPT Industrial’s latest compact diesel engine is the R22 – a three-cylinder power unit that covers the 33-52kW sector. Based on one of the firm’s VM engine platforms, the R22 has adopted a single canister approach to achieving Tier 4 Final emissions legislation.