Products

In a bid to set a world record for the most useless vehicle-related product ever, a firm has developed what it calls the Carstache. Designed as an item of fake facial hair to attach to the front of a car or truck, this novelty device is intended to appeal to male motorists who presumably have more money than sense. The utterly pointless product allows an owner to personalise a vehicle according to the company's founder. The Carstache is available in a range of colours including black, brown, orange and pink

Jonyang is a joint venture owned by Guizhou Guiyang Industrial Investment Holding Company and Singapore Technologies Kinetics (ST Kinetics), with excavators forming the main sales focus.

Ontario-based WS Tyler is offering three innovative new systems to the North American market. The company is a subsidiary of German firm Haver and one of its new concepts is the new Haver Pelletising Disc, which converts fines into marketable pelletised product.

XGMA has a long history of building construction equipment having commenced production in 1951. Wheeled loaders were the firm’s main output for many years though the range has widened considerably and now also includes excavators, soil compactors and backhoe loaders, for example. Outside of China the firm has strong export sales and sells well into Latin America, the Middle East and Russian and is looking to recruit staff in Brazil during 2012, according to Joaqim Zheng, sales director for Central and South

Shantui is moving steadily up the dozer size scale and its new SD52-5 bulldozer is the largest and most powerful the firm has ever made. This is also the biggest dozer made in China. Powered by a fuel-efficient diesel rated at 390kW, the SD5-5 is said to be both productive and economical to buy and run. The cab meets ROPS/FOPS requirements while also offering operator comfort and all-round visibility.

Sany is introducing several new machines with improved performance, including the SHG130 grader and SSR260 soil compactor. For earthmoving operations Sany has developed the SSR260 soil compactor and SHG190 grader. The 26.7tonne soil compactor is designed for low maintenance needs, with features including positive lubrication air-intake filtering and fuel filtering. Vibration damping makes the machine comfortable to operate for longer periods while an electronic diagnostics system ensures that the operator c

Higgins Contractors of New Zealand has made rapid use of its new Borum BMT 350 road marking machine, the first of its type in the country. The machine was bought recently to undertake contract work for the New Zealand Transport Authority and local councils, following a meeting Higgins had with Borum representatives at the Intertraffic exhibition in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, a year ago.

Police in Ireland have finally managed to find out why a Polish driver who had racked up over 50 separate offences had never been caught. One police officer realised that the name written on the paperwork recording each incident meant driving licence in Polish and that the one driver named was in fact 50 different people. Until that point Irish officers had mistakenly written the words Prawo Jazdy, which is printed on the top of a Polish driving licence as being the name of the offending driver. Despite the

In Kenya a judge found himself facing a judge following a fracas at the roadside. The judge was driving his official car, a Mercedes, when it was involved in an accident with another vehicle. The two cars stopped following the minor crash and there was a disagreement, which quickly boiled over and ended with the other driver being taken to hospital, having been stabbed in the stomach. The judge claimed that the other driver was drunk and had then fallen on his own knife as the dispute escalated. However the

Atlas Copco Construction Tools now offers a training centre for construction tools. The facility in Kalmar, Sweden, allows the company to concentrate internal training for hydraulic attachments, hand-held construction tools, maintenance, servicing and concrete and compression technology in a single location. The workshop houses up to six work stations, where products can be explained and servicing and maintenance tasks practised.

BOMAG's new BF 600P, a 17tonne asphalt paving machine ideal for jobs up to 6.85m, has been launched in the UK. With a maximum production rate of 600tonnes/ hour, its launch coincides with the introduction of a new two-year warranty for BOMAG pavers bought in the UK. The completely new BF 600P was designed and developed by BOMAG Alfonsine (Italy), and the first machine in the UK went straight to work on customer demonstrations around the UK.