Going the Extra Mile with Takeuchi’s

Colin Shevill of Kent based Six Mile Excavators was quick to embrace the mini excavator concept, having first seen them in action during the old SED Show at Hatfield in 1981, and his son Steve continues to invest in the amazing little machines to this day.

The machine’s that caught Colin’s eye at SED (Site Equipment Demonstration) were Priestman Mini Mustangs, the Hull based manufacturer had actually imported these machines from the now well known and hugely respected Japanese manufacturer Takeuchi, and they were badged up as Mini Mustangs, Colin was so impressed that he bought a 1-tonne class MM10 on the spot.

The arrangement between Priestman and Takeuchi eventually came to an end, so in 1986 the Six Mile Excavators started to purchase original Takeuchi machines which in those days were predominantly painted in an orange livery.

That first machine was a 1.5-tonne TB15 canopy model which the company still own to this day some 37 years later, and we caught up with Steve and the machine during a recent Earthmovers visit to the company which is featured in the current edition of the magazine.

They were so impressed with this machine at the time that more Takeuchi’s were to follow, the second one being another TB15 this time with a fully enclosed heated cab, which we also saw on the day of our visit. More Takeuchi models followed during the late 1980’s including larger TB35 and TB36 units.  

Talking about those early units Steve said, “Takeuchi machines at that time were seen as so ahead of the competition. The TB15 had the highest dump height of any mini on the market, but the standout feature for us was the unique control levers at side. Not at the front just at the sides of the seats, this made for comfy all day operating – no leaning forward all day when digging.

The shape of the canopy at the front allowed the boom to fold right back closer to allow for the extra dump height and provided extra width for the mechanical control levers.”

As the years went by the Shevill’s love affair with the Red & Grey machines continued and does so to this day, their favoured models these days are the FR machines, which they first started buying in 2005 with the arrival of the TB53FR, this was joined by a conventional tail swing TB153, two years later, then in 2016 they added their largest Takeuchi unit to date the 8-tonne class TB280FR, and most recently the 6-tonne class TB257FR, which was working in the yard loading building materials onto one of their trucks.

We then took a short drive out to one of their jobs at the back of a residential property where Mark Haynes who has been operating machines for the company for over 30 years was running the TB280FR.

We caught this photo of Mark and Steve together on site just as the heavens opened signalling it was time for me to head for home for the long drive over from Kent. It was great to catch up with Steve, and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank him and his wife for the lovely and thoughtful gift of a picnic bag that they gave me for the long commute home!

Pictured Above: Mark Haynes (Seated) Steve Shevill (Standing)

Checkout our video of the two old TB15 machines still going through the motions after all these years.