by Nick Drew | Wed 20 Jul 2022
Make it a Large LiuGong
It’s safe to say that they have been in the wheeled loader game for a long time, in 1961, the central government of China formulated a master plan to develop the country’s construction equipment industry. In this plan it was proposed that LiuGong, along with Xiamem’s and Chengu’s construction machinery plants, would all focus on the production of wheeled loaders.
In 1966, LiuGong developed the Z435 which was the company’s first model of wheeled loader. This machine was based on a Japanese design, was powered by a 135hp engine, had an operating weight of 3.5 tonnes and had a bucket capacity of 1.7m3.
Photo: One of the first wheeled loader models built by LiuGong the Z435 (Digger Man Blog Archives)
In 1971, the machine was joined by a larger articulated wheeled loader model, the 220hp Z450, however LiuGong’s first generation of wheeled loaders were only ever produced in relatively small numbers.
LiuGong has gone on to become one of the largest wheeled loader manufacturers in China.
Today LiuGong’s wheeled loader range consists of 13 models, with the big daddy of the range being the 8128H. The machine tips the scales at 52100kgs and can carry buckets ranging from 6.5m3 – 12m3 depending on spec. Powering this beast of a machine is a 6-cylinder Cummins QSK19 which offers a power output rating of 398kw (541hp) @1600rpm.
Its not clear if this machine is available in all markets as according to the spec sheet its only running on a Tier III engine but this could have been updated.
Check out the promotional video below.