Welcome to Issue 31 of Awesome Earthmovers. The biggest construction show in North America is right around the corner and Awesome Earthmovers will be there. The show promises big tech, big attachments and even bigger machines.
Away from the show excitement, we’ve been busy this last few months. Our cover story focuses on Caterpillar’s recent announcements which will be showcased at CONEXPO /CON-AGG in March, with AI partnerships and intuitive machine control taking centre stage.
In South Wales we looked at some very interesting earthmoving: cable ploughing. Foeck (masters of cable ploughing) invited us to a site in Wales where a 28-tonne 554hp winch tractor is pulling a much smaller cable tractor through soft land to efficiently install new power cables across great distances.
The South of England is home to Hooper and Sons, a family run construction and earthmoving outfit since 1972. Hooper and Sons took us through the highest tech Rototilt unit yet, the RC4, fitted to their Liebherr R914.
Further afield we’ve also been to Zealand in Denmark where CASE Construction Equipment and their dealer SDK showcased the power of a CASE 1121G wheel loader and a CX2100 excavator at work in a gravel pit. Also in Europe, Rammer Italy took us around multiple sites where their line-up of hammers was proving why they are one of the attachments to have when breaking heavy stone and materials.
In the USA, specifically the Pacific Northwest, there is a hugely successful tree care and green clearing business run by owner/operator Chad Powers, who talked us around his Kobelco ED160 Blade Runner, giving a rundown of why this is the perfect machine for his needs.
Down south in Texas, guest star Pushy Six visited a Heidelberg Materials’ quarry to witness some amazing autonomous trucks in day-to-day operation. Also in the Lone Star State, Sandvik provided us an exclusive look a their all new UJ473 crusher.
Harry Hunter Editor