Twin Takeuchi's for Hickey Plant Hire

by Nick Drew | Sun 22 Dec 2013

Twin Takeuchi's for Hickey Plant Hire

Buckinghamshire based Hickey Plant Hire recently ordered two new Takeuchi TB295W wheeled excavators from CBL Plant Sales Ltd. I went along to CBL’s Newbury branch to take a look at one prior to delivery in the New Year.

Takeuchi’s new TB295W was launched earlier this year at the Bauma trade fair in Munich, and took pride of place on the Takeuchi stand, at the tri-annual machinery fest. The natural successor to the hugely popular TB175W is now starting to arrive in the UK, and looks sure to delight users of the old outgoing model, of which 230 units had been sold in the UK since it was introduced into the market in 2002. MJ Hickey Plant Hire Ltd have already taken delivery of one machine, which is working on site in London, with this second machine going straight out to site after the Christmas shutdown period.

The machine we saw in Munich was the first production model, featuring full European specification including two piece boom, rear stabilizing outriggers and dozer blade. The standard UK specification is slightly more liberal, with a standard mono boom arrangement and no additional outriggers are fitted. The new Hickey machines have both been fitted with Hill Tefra fully automatic hydraulic quick hitches, which was an award winning product at the inaugural Plantworx show earlier this year in the engineering innovation section.

This 9,387kg machine is powered by the popular Isuzu 4JJ1X engine, which is rated at 73kw. The fitment of large one piece bonnet hoods, to the rear and to the side of the cab, enables superb access to all major servicing and daily check points, making the operator and the service technicians work a lot easier.

Cab comfort and ergonomics have been taken to another level in the TB295W, and is a vast improvement on the outgoing machine. Switches are nicely laid out in a bank to the operator’s right, and another switch cluster to the fore of the operator, just below the multi-function display screen. The engine throttle dial is nicely located, recessed within the right hand arm rest. The controls for the air-conditioning unit and radio are also nicely grouped to the rear side of the operator’s seat.

I was especially impressed with the massive air-vent to the right of the operator seat, which will provide fresh air to the operators face during long hot days on site. Also in this shot ,you can see the optional rear view camera screen, which has been specified by MJ Hickey Plant Hire, a really vital piece of kit when working on tight sites, as well as road jobs, as wheeled excavators often do. In the second shot you can see the camera itself has been fitted to the cab roof, which will protect it from accidental damage that it might have received if it was bonnet mounted, having said that, one might have to keep an eye out for low branches in the future.

CBL Plant Sales Ltd have recently been awarded Takeuchi dealer of the year for the second year running and are expecting to be extremely busy in 2014, as the industry gears up to take advantage of the recovery in the construction sector. Takeuchi machines are likely to be at the forefront on a sales perspective, with the new models proving to be very popular. Lynch Plant Hire has already pre-ordered eight of the TB295W models, and the new TB260 is getting a lot of interest too. In addition the TB290 tracked variant, which has been available in other territory’s for some time now, is starting to arrive here and is sure to be a great addition to the UK market.

I hope to follow up this order with a site visit in the New Year, for a potential story in Earthmovers Magazine; so definitely one to look out for in the future.

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