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Unique plant operators open day gets off to a flying start

Sun 01 Sep 2013

Unique plant operators open day gets off to a flying start

Being a show promoted towards operators, there was inevitably a number of operator challenge events going on at the show, which gave the attending machine men & women, a chance to show off their skills to a keen audience. One of the first I spotted was a “hook a duck” competition, where operators using a Takeuchi TB228 mini excavator were challenged to pick up four ducks using a specially adapted hook on the quick hitch, and place the various sized ducks on the top of road cones. In another test, operators were challenged to stack ten tyres on top of each other against the clock, using a rotating selector grab equipped Wacker Neuson 9503-2 rubber duck. Over on the Case stand, operators put their skills to the test, dropping a swinging pin into pipes located on the floor. This test requires a lot of concentration and a delicate touch, as the pin is very mobile hanging from a chain on the machine, leaving no room for error or jerky movements. Amongst the static machines on display was this Lynch Plant Hire owned, Volvo EC220D hydraulic excavator, which will be coming directly from the showground to the site I am working on for the MJL Group tomorrow, for a test drive period with me, for a potential report in a future edition of Earthmovers magazine. Also on the Volvo stand was this BL71B backhoe loader, with our local area sales representative Richard Shelbourne, seen here showing a potential customer around the machine. Just next door to Volvo we came across our good friends from Strickland buckets, who were displaying examples from their bucket range as well as their fully automatic double locking quick hitch. JCB dealership Greenshields, displayed a number of JCB products, including this JS130LC which features JCB’s latest T4i-IIIB emissions compliant engine. Also on display, was the latest version of the iconic 3CX. Over on the Miller Bucket and attachment stand, there was a very smart looking Wacker Neuson 14504. The 14.5 tonne offering is a direct competitor with the Takeuchi TB1140, featuring an offset arm feature and dozer blade. I personally think this style of machine would be ideal for the house building sector that I work in most of the time. It would be great to get some stick time on one of these models in the future. Cheshire based Worsley Plant, were once again displaying Remu screening buckets on their static display, in addition to this model that was being put through its paces in the small demonstration plot fitted on to a Lynch Plant Hire Hitachi. Also on the same plot was this Lynch Plant Hire Hyundai R210-9LC that was displayed with a concrete crushing bucket from MB Crushers. CBL Plant Sales brought a number of items to the party, including Bomag rollers, Merlo telehandlers and the extremely popular Takeuchi TB285, which continues to be well received by end users around the country. For the classic plant enthusiasts amongst us, there was one machine on display that was of particular interest to me, a Hymac 580D model,  of which I spent 9 years on back in the late 1980’s, early 1990’s. This machine is still in regular use locally I was led to believe. All in all, this first attempt at an operator’s day was well received with attendees when I left around lunchtime already numbering in excess of 3,000. The event also gave operators the chance to see the latest kit up close and personal, with the chance to speak directly to the assembled sales reps who many operators don't often get a chance to converse with. Its these operators who use the kit everyday, that should be an integral part of the purchasing decision, when it comes to the time to change machines. The event was inevitably dominated by Lynch Plant Hire equipment, but rightly so, as they have invested a lot of money in the local area with the recent opening of a Bridgwater depot to serve the South West of England, with the amount of marketing, Machinery investment and high profile jobs they are supplying kit too, I suspect we will be seeing a lot more Lynch branded machines heading further West very soon.  

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