A Welcome Return for the EHS

Thanks to the pandemic most of us have been starved of any major construction machinery shows for over 2 years now, but at long last they seem to be making a comeback, and last week, I attended my first since returning from Conexpo in Las Vegas in March 2020, which closed its doors a day early due to the spectre of Covid-19.

The Executive Hire Show 2022 returned to its spiritual home in Coventry, formerly known as the RICOH Arena, but which is now named the Coventry Building Society Arena, where no less than 152 exhibitors were displaying items of kit, with 42 of them making their debuts at the EHS.

If you are into small plant, hand tools and associated items, then the EHS has always been the place to be, it’s a friendly show with a unique atmospheric buzz of its own. Not being entirely sure how it was all going to pan out, I was delighted by the turnout from industry professionals, who were clearly hungry to check out what’s new in the world of small plant and tool hire.

In this blog post I’m going to feature some of my highlights from the show. The JCB stand was buzzing as ever, as they presented a full line-up of their new ETECH 100% electric powered machines, which offer zero emissions at point of use, among those products was the latest reincarnation of their 1.9-tonne 19C-1E mini excavator, which now features a full cab with ceramic heating system.

Checkout this video from my friend and industry colleague Peter Haddock as he takes a tour around the stand, with JCB’s Paul Mabey.

As one might expect, site dumpers featured heavily at the EHS, and in what is really a local gig for Coventry based Mecalac Construction Equipment UK, they presented two models from their site dumper range, most notably the new 3.5-tonne class 3.5MDX fully cabbed forward tipping dumper, which one has to say, features the kind of impressive styling that we have come to expect from the French manufacturer.    

Altrad Belle offer a vast range of products for the construction industry including compaction equipment, concrete equipment for mixing, cutting and breaking, generators, pressure washers, wheelbarrows and the DX1000HT High-Tip dumper which dominated the stand resplendent in an all-black livery to celebrate their global partnership with New Zealand rugby.

Something a bit different caught my eye on the Tufftruk stand, the British built TRUXTA BENDie 4x4 all electric pedestrian dumper. At just 850mm wide the TRUXTA BENDie 4×4 500KG is extremely compact and can access places that larger or less manoeuvrable alternatives can’t.

The machine features an articulated chassis ideal for accessing difficult job sites, like down back alleys and inside narrow corridors and the like. The heavy-duty skip which has a load capacity of 500kg is made of indestructible plastic. This machine which can work for 8 hours on a single charge has multiple uses, not only on construction sites, but also around gardens and horse stables.

There were not many diggers to be seen, but Chinese manufacturer SANY had the largest display of machines, and also presented the largest machine at the event, with the all new SY80U model, which we first saw as a prototype back at the last Bauma Trade Fair in 2019. The improvements made since then certainly look good, and I’m looking forward to trying one out for Earthmovers in due course.

Stockport based C&F Mini Dumpers presented examples from their range of tracked machines which are available in no less than 20 different configurations. The 800kg capacity T85 HT (High-Tip) model was on show, powered in this instance by a Yanmar engine, the hydrostatically driven machine has a top speed of 3.1mph.

Italian manufacturer Messersi were a first-time exhibitor at the show and took the opportunity to showcase their new TC50-e all electric high tip tracked dumper. With a width of 660mm and a maximum payload of 500kg, the machine has a power output rating of 5.5kw (7.4hp).

Toro UK Ltd displayed a number of examples from their range including the Dingo Wide Track TX1000 Vertical Lift tracked skid steer loader.

To round up take a brief tour around the show with me.

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