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New asphalt compactors from leading firms offer greater versatility and lower running costs - Mike Woof writes

During the recent Conexpo event in Las Vegas, Kelly Majeskie, President of The LeeBoy Group, spoke about his expansion plans for the business “We’ve been working on a couple strategies for LeeBoy” said Majeskie, “an overseas growth strategy and a more focused approach to the US market. Like most businesses we saw a major downturn when the US housing market took the big hit in 2008/9.

Two of the leaders in the concrete paving sector are broadening their range of technology, with new systems now coming to the international market The concrete paving market is a niche segment of the construction equipment business, with only a few specialist firms competing. North America is the home of concrete slipforming technology and it is no surprise that all but one of the leading firms in the sector are based in the US. The technology is used worldwide however and with asphalt prices at a high, c

From Caterpillar comes a new compaction system that is said to boost working efficiency. The innovative machine drive power (MDP) package is said to be an integrated soil compaction measurement technology that has been tested by contractors at several jobsites around the world. Now coming to market, the MDP package is one component of an intelligent compaction (IC) package from the firm. The IC technology includes integrated compaction measurement (with an accelerometer, or Cat’s MDP), a system that pro

The grader market may be comparatively small but it is still fiercely fought and while Caterpillar holds a strong market share worldwide, other firms are also increasing their presence in the sector. John Deere hopes to capitalise on its share by installing the new G-series graders with the firm’s PowerTech, Tier 4 Final compliant engines. The engine update has also allowed engineers to install a number of other upgrades. The G-Series still includes 12 models, with power ranging from 164-214kW and six o

The wide array of crawler excavators on the global construction market has led to strong competition between suppliers, each of which is keen to stay ahead of its rivals. All the major international manufacturers are introducing new models in North America and Europe for 2014, with key performance upgrades. From Doosan comes the 22.5tonne DX225LC-3, which is said to offer increased performance and lower engine emissions and is aimed at one of the most highly competitive segments of the market. The machine

In 2014 Zoomlion-owned Cifa plans to manufacture a further 15 of its innovative hybrid Energya 8 and 9 plug-in truck mixer prototypes to add to its two existing models. The globally renowned concrete equipment sector firm also aims to sell the first of these new plug-in truck mixer models next year. Among the new machines and equipment resulting from a €2 million-a-year R&D investment in Cifa and Zoomlion products over the last five years, the Energya 8 and 9 models, the latter of which was launched at bau

Key manufacturers are introducing new excavators and ADTs featuring the latest diesel engine technology, while there are developments too in the grader sector - Mike Woof reports The start of 2014 was always going to be a key year for the construction equipment sector, given the commencement of the Tier 4 Final/Stage IV emissions regulations for North America and Europe. This phased introduction of ever tougher emissions regulations has been a long process, as well as a very costly one in terms of resear