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Looking Back on CASE in France (#FlashbackFriday)

On our bus journey to the Case Customer Centre which was situated in Monthyon, to the north of Paris, I was hit by a wave of nostalgia, as we passed road signs for Le Plessis Belleville and Crepy en Valoise. Both these places are steeped in excavator manufacturing history, with Le Plessis Belleville being the home of Georges Bataille, who was the founder of Poclain, the famous French excavator manufacturer. In fact, further on in our journey we passed the actual site of the former Poclain factory, which is now owned by CNH’s agricultural division.

I was constantly on the lookout for some old Poclain machines during the bus ride, but sadly it wasn’t to be, as I never spotted one during the trip. Case, of course, had a long association with Poclain and this region of France, having, in a familar style, bought a majority stake in the Poclain business in the mid 1980’s, after which time the machines were named Case-Poclain and featured the familiar Case yellow & tan livery. The Poclain name was dropped in 1999, finally bringing to an end the story of this one time leading player in hydraulic excavator technology. 

During this trip I was there to check out the Case Rodeo Operator Competition, and once that had been completed, I decided to go exploring around the excellent facility, that was once a proving ground for the old Poclain machines, to snap some shots of the demonstration fleet machines that were for customers to try out. The first machine that caught my eye was the latest 7.5 ton offering from Case, the CX75C SR (Short Radius) excavator. This long awaited replacement of the old model, which had been absent from the range for about 3 years, was launched at Bauma earlier in 2016 and featured a Tier 4 Final emission compliant engine, which offered a rated power output of 55hp (41.2kw). 

I then headed out the back to the demonstration area, which was an extensive plot of land consisting of extremely heavy clay, which gives the machine a good workout! It was here that I came across three Case wheeled loaders that were all running, but nobody was around to take them for a spin. Most impressive was this 1021F. This 24.6 ton loading shovel is the third largest in the Case range, and is powered by a 320hp (239kw) engine. This machine uses proven selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology, which meets Tier 4 interim emissions standards, whilst also delivering increased power and improved fuel efficiency.

The next port of call was further on up the plot, at the excavator demo area, where I came across this very smart looking CX145C SR, which was fitted with a useful knuckle boom arrangement and dozer blade.

The demo operator was putting the plot straight again after a customer had been trying out the machine. Fans of the regular Sumitomo inspired Case CX hydraulic excavator range, would have been sure to like this short radius 14 tonne offering, especially on congested housing site jobs.

Back down at the area overlooking the main demonstration arena, where the rodeo competition was held, I came across a wheeled excavator in the shape of this WX218 model. The 21,500kg WX218 is the largest in a four model wheeled excavator range and is powered by a 173hp (129kw) FPT Stage III / Tier 3 diesel engine.

Inside the Case Customer Centre, there were two restored items of classic Case machines; these included a 1530 Uni-Loader one of the early models from the company’s skid steer range.

Whilst up in the main showroom, there is a fantastic restoration of a Case 530 “Construction King” centre mount, backhoe loader. The Case 530 Construction King was based on Case’s 530 model tractor. The tractor chassis itself was built in Racine, Wisconsin, USA, while the loader and backhoe were built in Burlington, Iowa, USA. These almost legendary machines were manufactured from 1960 – 1967 and were powered by a Case G188 engine, which offered a power output of 48hp (35.8kw).

The famous Construction King model was reinvented again in 2010 when Case launched a new T series of backhoe loaders, bearing the historical name. One of these latest machines, a 590ST model, was also on display at the top of the main arena.

UPDATE: Apparently this old facility is still there but remains unused since Case/CNH pulled the plug on running the place, something I feel is really sad as it was an excellent venue for demonstrating new machinery. 

With the latest news of the takeover by Kobelco, you have to ask yourself, how long will it be before we stop seeing new tan coloured Case machines on the market, will they just gradually dissapear, just like the old Poclain machines did back in the day.