Scandinavian innovation on show: Mega Blog

by Nick Drew | Tue 10 Nov 2015

Scandinavian innovation on show: Mega Blog

I have had a request for further blog post featuring my visit to MaskinExpo in Sweden earlier this year which I am very happy to re-visit. The MaskinExpo show is held annually at the STOXA Stockholm Outdoor Exhibition Area, which is ideally located just 12 kilometres from Arlanda airport.

For anyone with a real passion for the Swedish approach to excavation and attachment use, MaskinExpo is the place to be and it came as no surprise to me to discover that our own UK tiltrotator trailblazers, Eddie Warrener, Ollie Kitchen, Rob Taylor and Shaun Gratton, had all made the trip over to Stockholm for another eye opening experience on just how the innovative Swedes do things! Although during the two days I was there I never bumped into them once as we mingled around on the numerous “buzzing” stands, which featured a total of 404 exhibitors.

The organizing company was originally founded in 1982 by the current event organizer Carina Tegelberg’s father. They held the first MaskinExpo show the following year at Täby Racetrack in Stockholm. The event grew steadily over the coming years and in 2006 the show moved to a new venue, which was an old airfield in Stockholm. It was at this venue that the show broke all the records for visitor numbers, topped off in 2012 with a total of 32,000 people coming through the gates. The airfield had been a great place for the show, but sadly in an all too familiar scenario, the local authorities decided to grant planning permission to build 20,000 homes on the land and so MaskinExpo had to move once more.

It was at that time that the company purchased a disused golf course close to the airport and founded STOXA; Stockholm Outdoor Exhibition Area, which looks set to be the shows spiritual home for the foreseeable future. This year’s event attracted 22,185 people over the 3 day duration of the show, as locals and overseas visitors checked out the latest products from a wide range of manufacturers and smaller independent companies. Products ranged from bespoke excavator and loading shovel buckets to LED lighting for those long Swedish winters.

Swedish backhoe loader specialists Huddig brought something rather special to launch at the show. The Hybrid concept machine is said to be the first example of a Hybrid backhoe loader and uses what the company calls Tigon Technology. This machine uses hybrid technology similar to what we have seen in hydraulic excavators, but looks set to take things to another level, which I look forward to reporting on at a later date.

Also spotted during my travels around the showground were models from Turkish manufacturer Hidromek, which were being displayed by Swedish dealership Abandon AB. Excavators included a high spec 14 tonne class HMK140LC on static display, a HMK140W 14 tonne class wheeled excavator, with both of these machines sporting a Steelwrist tiltrotator and a 30 tonne class HMK300LC, which had a Indexator Rototilt tiltrotator unit mounted on it, the latter two machines were set up on a digging plot for visitors to try out.

As we have come to expect from the Swedish event over the years, there were stunning examples of kit to be seen all around the showground. Perhaps one of the most eye-catching was the Limited Edition Liebherr A 918 Compact wheeled excavator, which had been sprayed in the blue corporate livery of P Karlssons Planering, Grav & Schakt AB.

This machine really was a “showstopper” featuring a whole host of extras that are often regarded as essential add-on’s by our Scandinavian cousins, including LED lighting covering every possible angle, mud flaps, chassis mounted hydraulic tool mounting for fitting a bucket or forks, triple piece boom, dozer blade with trailer towing mount and enough flashing lights to light the machine up like a Christmas tree! In addition in the side mounted toolbox compartment there were an inverter and a compressor with airline making the machine very self-sufficient in any emergency!

Of course it wouldn’t be Sweden without a tiltrotator being fitted and in this case it was a special edition silver unit from Engcon, number 28 from a limited run of 300 units being produced in celebration of 25 years in business.

In Sweden Takeuchi machines are sold under the name Take-Job and there was a wide variety of the company’s latest models on display. Of particular interest was the new TB280FR which is the replacement model for the old TB180FR. It’s fair to say these models with their unusual off-set function don’t appeal to everyone but they are great machines for working in tight congested sites. Once again this machine was sporting a tiltrotator from the Rototilt stable.

The Take-Job dealers also sell Hyundai machines and on stand they had a number of examples from the Hyundai range including the R 140W-9A wheeled excavator, which was fitted with a Rototilt tiltrotator and was available to try out on a large pile of stone. Once again the relaxed nature of the Swedes was noted as there were no fences or barriers around this demo plot and everyone I met was happy to talk about the kit and the latest developments with their products.

The towing of trailers behind machines in Sweden is very common both on rubber ducks and backhoe loaders. This enables one man and his machine to take a wide variety of work tools and materials to the jobsite under his own steam and gives him far greater flexibility on the job site. For example the tools and materials can be unloaded on site and the trailer can be used like we would use a site dumper in the UK, making the machine more versatile and cutting down on costs of running an additional dumper and somebody to drive it.

There were examples of these trailers all around the showground, but one attached to a Huddig 1260C really caught my eye. Manufactured by Swedish company Waldung-Karran, this hydraulic tipping trailer can also be off-set using its clever tow bar mechanism, enabling the excavator to dig a trench alongside the trailer whilst still connected to the base machine, its set-ups like this that put the Swedes light years ahead of us in terms of innovation and machine utilisation, it’s a real eye-opener for any visiting Brit!

Having said that it’s not all high-tech state of the art equipment, sometimes it’s the really simple things that are equally as brilliant, as I found out when I spoke to a guy running a small business called Treman HB. In business since 1987, he comes up with simple but clever ideas to make every day work so much easier. He was keen to show me his rotary brush system, which can be simply picked up by a gripper on the back of a tiltrotator and can be safely used for brushing off dirt and sand from underground services. Also with the tiltrotator bucket turned around to face the brush it can be used like a dustpan and brush to pick up the debris that is generated when sweeping, such a simple idea but a very clever one I thought.

Another simple but strange looking attachment was being demonstrated by Swedish forestry equipment specialists Sit Right AB. Mounted on a LiuGong 915D hydraulic excavator was an unusual attachment called a Komplett. Apparently it’s used for digging out holes for planting new trees in sustainable forests. It can be supplied as a single unit, or as demonstrated at the show, as a double on a tilting head set up. According to a company spokesman in the right hands this combination can cover a vast area in any one working day.

Making their first appearance at the Swedish show was Dutch manufacturer Deschans, who were demonstrating one of their Knikmops 180 compact wheeled loaders. Powered by a 45hp Kubota 4 cylinder engine, the machine weighs in at 1,800kgs and is the second largest machine in a 6 model range. According to company representative Jan-Willem Slegh, these mini wheeled loaders are now available in the UK.

Of course during the long winter months, Sweden is often blighted by heavy snow. As such the white stuff and machinery to deal with it is never far from their minds. In many cases wheeled loaders are used but also the motor grader is another favourite tool at their disposal equipped with snow wings.

Now with Volvo ending manufacture of graders, the door is open for other perhaps less well known brands to take advantage in the marketplace. One such exhibitor at the show was Finnish company Veekmas Oy, who displayed two examples the RG 281 and larger FG 2428. I was surprised to discover that Veekmas have been a specialist in grader manufacture for 50 years so I would suggest they know a thing or two about them.

For those of us who are massive fans of tiltrotators, MaskinExpo is the place to be, the game changing attachments, which have been commonplace in Sweden for over 25 years are everywhere you look! If you have never been to this show before, I strongly advise you to do so, its a great country, with friendly people and most importantly cutting edge earthmoving technology everywhere you look.

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