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Digging deep into construction machinery news

Sun 10 Aug 2014

The hunt is on for a British built Bobcat

In 1965 the American company behind Bobcat, Melroe, decided to move into the European marketplace, when unbeknown to me, they signed a licence agreement with Luff & Smith, who were based in my home city of Southampton, England. Under the terms of the agreement Luff & Smith would manufacture the bobcat loaders for the European market in a new Melroe facility at Chandlers Ford, close to the existing Luff & Smith plant. In this scan we see a new M610 loader in action with a road sweeper attachment outside the premises in Southampton. A number of Bobcat models were built in the UK facility, including the M444, M562, M570, M600 and M610. Sadly the relationship didn’t last very long as Luff & Smith went bankrupt in 1967, so a new a new licensing arrangement was made with an Italian manufacturer, Beltrami, which saw all production for the European market transferred to their facility in Ravenna. Bobcat dealership Promac are now looking for a genuine British made machine, with a plan to purchase, refurbish it and present the machine in all its glory on the Promac stand at Plantworx next June! This is where our glorious Digger Man Blog and Earthmovers Magazine readers can help. Do any of you know the whereabouts of one of these machines? There must be a number of them out there somewhere if not in the UK then possibly abroad. If you have any information to offer please don’t hesitate to get in contact with us!      

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