Postcards from Finland (Part Two)

Fri 21 Jul 2017

Postcards from Finland (Part Two)

Just down the road from Rotator Oy we came across JCB dealers Mateko Oy who have been importing, marketing, selling and servicing the British built machines since their foundation in 1996. We were met there by another of my friends from the world wide plant and machinery social media scene, Eetu Tyster, who was keen to show us around the facility.

Our Finnish friends like the Swedes, are keen to “pimp up” their machines, like this zero tailswing JZ140HD model which features a whole host of add on modifications which have been added for the customer by Mateko. Also parked behind the JZ140 is a JS131LC Plus Pack model which is fitted with a Steelwrist tiltrotator.

As I expected the JCB Hydradig was attracting a lot of attention from a curious Finnish audience. There was a steady stream of visitors taking time out to look around the machine during our time at this venue. Mateko were keen to tell us that interest from forward thinking Finns has been very good so far. We of course will expect these machines to be heavily specified to suit the market requirements in Finland.

Next stop for us was a short drive away to visit Caterpillar dealer Witraktor who were celebrating an incredible milestone of 70 years as a Cat dealer in Finland. As you might expect there was plenty to see at this venue, with a whole host of new Cat equipment on display. Amongst some of the new machines was the M315F wheeled excavator which featured a TAB boom arrangement, a Rototilt tiltrotator and a Leica Geosystems GPS set up.

It was also a pure delight to finally meet up with Camilla Kuivalainen who we have covered on the blog before and has become a big star on the plant and machinery social media circuit in her own right. Camilla was keen to get behind the controls of a Cat 323F with Rototilt on the demo plot, before heavy rain put an end to the activities and we made a dash for the car!

Check out this video by Koneporssi taken during our visit to Witraktor.

The next day we headed for another large industrial zone that was home to a number of different dealers with the largest being Real Machinery who are the Finnish importers of the Doosan range of construction equipment.

The Saturday of this two day event really has a family feel to it as industry professionals turn out with their families for a taste of the action. Once again at this venue there was plenty of opportunities to gain some “stick time” like this guy having a shot on the latest Doosan DX140LCR.

Of course being a Doosan dealership inevitably means you are also a Bobcat dealer and Real Machinery had a wide selection of the company’s compact machines on display like this Bobcat S530 with sweeper/collector attachment.

Check out this video from Koneporssi taken during our visit to Real Machinery.

And finally, also exhibiting at this venue were our friends at Lannen Tractors who displayed a number of its Multi-Function backhoe loaders like this 8800K fitted with a front mounted road brush, just one of the many attachments that can be mounted on these incredibly versatile machines.

I look forward to returning to Finland again one day, great country, great people and I would once again like to thank Lannen Tractors and my friend Olli Pavio and the team at Koneporssi for inviting me over and the warm hospitality I received during my stay. Till next time ... Kiitos.

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