by Nick Drew | Wed 20 Jul 2016
Swedish Blue Duck
Owner operator Ollie Kitchin has graced the pages of this blog on many occasions as he has added various new toys in the form of attachments to use in conjunction with his Engcon equipped Komatsu “rubber duck”. It gives me great pleasure to welcome his latest machine to the blog, a Swedish blue inspired Komatsu PW148.
As regular readers will know Ollie Kitchin has been a long term adopter of the Swedish approach to excavation and materials handling using Engcon as his preferred tilt-rotator supplier. During a visit to Maskinexpo last year many of us who visited were struck by the stunning Liebherr 918 Compact of P Karlssons Planering, Grav & Schakt AB which was painted in the company’s Swedish blue livery and was a real showstopper at the event. One can only imagine that a seed was planted in Ollie’s mind to go for the distinctive colour scheme when he ordered his next machine. That dream has since come to fruition and visitors to the recent Hillhead show were treated to a first glimpse of the new machine. I was kindly sent some photos of the machine being put together on the assembly line in Germany some time ago.
As with all machine’s that are being painted in a different colour the parts are sprayed as the build-up progresses. During factory tours it’s always great to see a different colour machine going down the line often in among a sea of either yellow or orange ones which are often the normal generic colour schemes for construction plant and equipment.
Of course with this being Ollie’s machine there is nothing standard about it and he has been having a whole host of additional modifications done to the machine to meet his requirements, like a towing link built into the blade.
On top of the said blade Ollie has specified a storage box for chains and tools which is seen here in its raw state during fabrication by John Craig of JCC Engcon.
An extra-long re-fuelling pipe which is mounted on a reel has also been fitted under the chassis, a very useful addition to any machine as the standard fitments are often never quite long enough in my experience.
Of course the new Komatsu PW148 gets a shiny new Engcon unit to go on the end and it’s one of Engcon’s special edition silver 25 year anniversary units which really looks stunning with the blue of the base machine.
And that’s not forgetting all the additional LED work lights, blaze bar, seat belt lights, mud flaps and extra mounting steps on the blade I think you will agree she’s a fine looking piece of kit.
And a close up shot of Ollie's customary Swedish flag that adorns all his machines. A mark of respect to a nation that are leagues ahead in terms of hydraulic attachments and approach to excavator working technology.
We expect to see a full article on the machine by Paul Argent in an upcoming edition of Earthmovers Magazine, one to look out for I’m sure!