Digger Man’s new Takeuchi is right on track

by Nick Drew | Sun 30 Nov 2014

Digger Man’s new Takeuchi is right on track

Having placed an order for a new Takeuchi with my local dealers CBL Plant Sales earlier this year, I was delighted to receive some photos of my new machine being assembled on the production line in Japan last week.

I am swapping from a shade of orange to the distinctive red and grey livery of Takeuchi and if all goes to plan I should be taking delivery of the 3.6 tonne class TB235 in January, which will be the first Takeuchi machine I have owned. Takeuchi know a thing or two about mini diggers, having introduced what they claim was the first mini tracked excavator way back in 1971. In April 2014 the Nagano factory produced its 250,000^th machine, a significant milestone for the Japanese company.

Incredibly the TB235 was first launched into the UK market as far back as 2008 when it made its debut at the SED (Site Equipment Demonstration) in Rockingham. The machine replaced the outgoing TB135, which had proven to be a popular size machine with owner operators, a legacy which continues with the TB235.

My TB235 is the 5449^th machine built since the model was first introduced and is being supplied with the optional air conditioning unit, which makes for a much more pleasant operating experience especially when I am running my high flow flail mower attachment which can cause any machine to run a lot warmer than normal.

The 3580kg TB235 is powered by a Yanmar 3TNV88 4 cylinder engine which offers a power output rating of 21.5kw @2400rpm. Somewhat ironically two new Takeuchi models were launched at ConExpo in Las Vegas earlier this year, the TB230 and TB240 sit either side of the TB235 in the range and I suspect we will see a European launch for those two models at Intermat in Paris next April.

I have always been a fan of the Takeuchi range of machines, having operated many various sizes over the years ranging from the TB016 up to a brief spell on the TB1140 and they have never failed to impress me, in terms of smoothness of operation, power and reliability. So I am looking forward to a late Christmas present to myself when it finally arrives following its long haul across the seas! Check out this video of Takeuchi machines on the demo plot at the inaugural Plantworx show. [youtube width="725" height="344"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eH0hINU_sgs[/youtube] The Digger Man blog would like to thank CBL Plant Sales and Takeuchi for their help with this deal and for their assistance with this blog post.

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