Poclain 1000 Memories #FlashbackFriday

I was recently chatting to a neighbour in my village Steve Arnold, who had seen me running about in the Digger Man Blog car, and was curious to know more about the blog and my work. It transpired that his late wife Theresa, used to work for Poclain when they had a yard in Hook, North Hampshire, a place I knew very well from living in Southampton back in the day.

He was keen to talk about the old Poclain 1000, which back in its day was one of the largest hydraulic excavators on the market, I said I would share another post on these giant machines, which I am sure will be of interest to him and his wife.

Poclain 1000 at another working event: Image courtesy of Gilles Auriol

This fine example of the legendary Poclain 1000CK M1 is believed to be one of only two remaining 1000’s machines anywhere in the world. It belongs to French contractor Eric Moutot, who also owns a number of other Poclain models from the past. It’s clear to see that this machine, which dominates the collection, is the pride and joy of the fleet and rightly so in my opinion.

These photos of the 1000 in action are courtesy of Jimmy Pourcelot who posted them on the Facebook group Les Poclain De France. 

According to the former European Earthmovers reporter Steven Vale, there was possibly another 1000CK M2 example being restored by another French collector.

Understandably there is a strong and healthy interest in the iconic old Poclain machines in France and its reassuring to know that these classic old machines will be around for future generations to see for many years to come. The work and money they plough into these projects is a real credit to all the people involved.

Here is a great video clip of the machine in action during an open day event in 2015 at Eric Moutot's yard, just listen to those engines!   

Video courtesy of manugotp You Tube channel.