Royal Cornwall Show Machinery Highlights (Part Two)

Continuing our look back at some of the machinery trade stands we visited during last weeks rather damp Royal Cornwall Show.

No visit to the Royal Cornwall Show would be complete without stopping by to see our friends on the Holt JCB stand. The main JCB dealer for the South West had a wide range of machinery on display for fans of the famous British brand to paw over and it was a pleasure as always to catch up with Managing Director Andrew Shields and Marketing Manager Neve Hudson.

Big highlights on the stand were the one millionth backhoe loader, a milestone which is being celebrated by producing 80 of these exclusive special edition 4CX models.

Also on show was the recently launched JCB 145XR compact radius 15-tonne class hydraulic excavators, with this example being fitted with an Engcon tiltrotator. These machines are proving to be a very popular addition to the JCB hydraulic excavator range.

Of special interest to me was the 2.5-tonne class JCB 25 Z-1 zero tailswing mini excavator that has been sold to MJ Troup & Son of Callington. I had worked for Matt Troup myself many years ago operating a Cat 312B and it’s great to see the business still flourishing and investing in new kit.

Just across the way on the One Point Survey stand, we spotted what was the only Volvo CE machine at the show this year, the EC260F. And once again it’s another stunning customisation job for Porteous Groundworks and part two of the Porteous sibling rivalry, with this example designed by Scott Porteous the brother of Sophie Porteous who we featured in part one with her 'Hidropony' design.

A sea of red Yanmar machines awaited us over on the Machine Serve stand. Of interest here was the 2.5-tonne class conventional tailswing SV26 mini excavator which was fitted with a rotating bucket attachment.

Also on display was the ever-popular Vio27 a zero tailswing mini excavator which competes in the 3-tonne class sector. This machine was fitted with a hydraulic powered chain trencher.

Other products from the Machine Serve portfolio included Ghedini flail mowers, Gyru-Star screening buckets and Slanetrac tracked dumpers.

Kellands Plant Sales always have a packed stand at their traditional prominent location. The stand was as expected dominated by the orange paintwork of Develon, with many emblazoned with the names of well-known Cornish businesses.

From large machines right down to the current smallest excavator in the Develon range the DX10Z-7, a 1-tonne class zero tailswing offering with the unusual cylindrical style boom, that I recall was once offered by a well-known British brand.   

It was also good to see Craig Frain, a lad local-ish to me, taking on a brand new 14-15-tonne DX140LC-7 hydraulic excavator.

Also, in Kelland’s portfolio of products, NC Engineering were displaying their latest all new SW5560 6-tonne hydrostatic site dumper with EN474-6 fully compliant ROPS & FOPS folding safety frame, which transforms for shipping in under 90 seconds.

The distinctive green paintwork of Finnish manufacturer Avant Techno was also represented with a number of models on display including the 760i, which was sporting an Avant 1350 mower. These multi-functional machines can be fitted with over 200 different attachments.

Lookout for the last instalment from the Royal Cornwall Show soon.