We Love a Bit of Finnish Rock with Hitachi! #FlashbackFriday

During the 2019 edition of Bauma, in Munich, Hitachi Construction Equipment displayed the then brand new EX1200-7B hydraulic excavator.

The Hitachi machine had been sold to one of the largest private mining and earthmoving companies in Finland, E. Hartikainen Oy, a professional and fantastic business who are based in Joensuu, Eastern Finland.

Having been one of the star attractions on the stand at the triennial Bavarian machinery fest, the machine that tips the scales at around 117,000kgs, was transported to our friends at Finnish Hitachi CE dealers Rotator Oy before heading to its first assignment which took place at the Port of Helsinki.

Sometime later the machine, was transported to the Terrafame mine at Sotkamo, where nickel, zinc and cobalt are used at its metals production facility. At the time of the delivery the big Hitachi was put to work creating a new area for dumping waste rock, that has been separated from the ore in the mine.  

The EX1200-7B is powered by a Stage V EU emissions compliant Cummins diesel engine which offers a power output rating of 567kw (760hp) and is fitted with a 5.2³ heavy duty rock bucket.

Photo: Courtesy of Olli Päiviö

The company are no strangers to large mining sized excavators, in the early 2000’s they purchased a brand new EX1900 which was also on display during Bauma and in 2011 they were the first company to purchase a Cat 6030 backhoe, which at the time was in fact the largest Caterpillar machine ever delivered to Finland.

Checkout the video of the EX1200-7B in action in the Terrafame mine. I have no idea if this machine is still active on the E. Hartikainen Oy fleet, or if it has since been traded in or sold to another end user, if any of our Finnish friends know what its status is now, please post in the comments.