Highlights of Hillhead 2016
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Over 18,000 visitors attended the huge three-day Hillhead construction show in England on 28-30 June. DOW UK correspondent, Chris McCullough reports.
Held every two years, the 2016 event saw record numbers through the gates, and that wasn’t even counting all the exhibitors and those working the machines.
Hillhead is quite unique in that it is held in a quarry at Buxton in Derbyshire and hosts a number of working demonstrations at each event.
This year the organisers blasted a couple of new benches in the quarry allowing extra space for more demos to take place.
The show not only attracted its highest ever attendance but also hosted a record number of trade stands from 476 exhibitors.
The first and last days were dry but the second day, which is always the busiest, was also the wettest as the skies opened.
Show director Richard Bradbury was very content the show went well.
"We had over 18,000 unique visitors, not including all the exhibitors and staff, at this year’s event which is the highest ever since 2005.
"Even though it was very wet on the Wednesday, we still had 9000 visitors through the gate.
"During the demonstrations we had up to nine excavators working at once on the newly blasted benches.
"Business was brisk as reported from the exhibitors. All throughout the show’s duration there were ‘sold’ signs going up on quite a few machines.
"The trade space for this show was sold out at the end of January and we had 60 companies on a waiting list for a stand.
"Over the next few weeks and months the exhibitors will have a chance to reflect and follow up on leads to generate further business," he added.
Visitors were warned to be aware of some ‘gold diggers’ attending the event but this was later established to be an excavator on the Kubota stand, and not some females looking for a wealthy husband.
In fact, Kubota was celebrating its 50,000th excavator sale at Hillhead 2016 and marked this milestone by exhibiting a gold painted Kubota KX-71 mini excavator on its stand.
This unique machine stood next to an original Kubota KH10, which was the very first mini excavator sold in the UK and Irish market launched by the company back in 1979.
The Japanese company also exhibited some new machines making their debut in the UK including high-spec versions of two of its popular mini excavators, the Kubota KX101-3 and the Kubota U27-4.
For the first time in the UK, Kubota’s KC250H-4 carrier with three way tipping body made an appearance and was greeted favourably by the visitors.
Popular plant manufacturer Liebherr ventured to the show with a range of Stage IV/Tier 4F-compliant machines which they claim offers fuel savings of up to 30 per cent.
Some of the main highlights on the stand included the latest XPower large wheel loaders. Of note was the L566 wheel loader and the new 32-tonne L586, the largest model in the XPower range.
Also on display was the new PR 726 Litronic bulldozer, featuring a six-way blade and a four-cylinder diesel engine that delivers 163hp and complies with Stage IV/Tier 4F emissions standards.
Of course, Cat was heavily involved with the show and a number of new products were on the Finning stand including the Cat 730C2 articulated truck, 323FL excavator and the 352FL XE hydraulic excavator, equipped with the Trimble 3D GPS unit.
In the working demonstrations the company put a Cat 745C articulated truck through its paces, and a D6N LGP with Cat grade control technology and Trimble 3D software.
Staying in the working arena, Terex Finlay revealed three new products including the C-1540 direct-drive cone crusher and 674 three-deck inclined screen. Also on show was the C-1545 cone crusher, which was introduced in late 2015.
The company also exhibited its new I-140 impact crusher that premiered at the recent Bauma 2016 exhibition.
In fact, it didn’t take one customer long to snap up a new Terex Finlay 873 screener on the very day of Hillhead.
Robert Jackson, director of the Kettering-based Peter Bennie quarry company, shook hands on the deal on the first day with Russell Robinson, sales engineer at Finlay Plant Southern.
This is actually the tenth Terex Finlay machine supplied by Finlay Plant Southern to Peter Bennie. The new machine will work at Peter Bennie’s quarries across Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire and also process construction and demolition waste.
The 873 comes complete with a 300mm chassis extension, 12’x5’ screenbox top deck fitted with 75mm punch plate and a 12’x5’ screenbox bottom deck fitted with 20mm self-cleaning mesh.
As well as construction and demolition material, the plant is also ideally suited to work in aggregates, sand and gravel, top soil and recycling applications.
Speaking at Hillhead, Robert Jackson said: "The Terex Finlay 873 is among the most versatile and adaptable machines on the market.
"It will be used at several of our locations, in both quarrying and recycling environments."
Making its debut at Hillhead from Hitachi was the recently launched 50-tonne ZX490-6 excavator.
The state-of-the-art ZX490-6 excavator is equipped with the latest Tier 4 Final engine and benefits from an increased hydraulic pump capacity compared with its predecessor, the ZX470-5.
This, says Hitachi, allows for the use of hydraulic tools and demolition attachments when required, making the machine suitable for heavy mining and quarrying applications.
Hyundai featured 12 machines on its stand including models from the new HX range of excavators and HL range of wheeled loaders. Also on show were examples of dash-9A models, including the R17Z-9A, R25Z-9AK and the R80CR-9A crawler excavators.
One of the more interesting vehicles at the show was the JCB Hydradig 110 which is a brand new tool-carrying wheeled machine.
The new concept is said to bring new levels of digging, lifting, loading and tool-carrying performance to urban construction, highway maintenance and municipal operations.
Meanwhile, Northern Ireland-based Powerscreen, one of the world’s leading providers of mobile crushing and screening equipment, marked its 50th anniversary in business at Hillhead.
Established in 1966, the company has earned and maintained its reputation as one of the biggest and the best in the crushing and screening industry.
Global product line director Colin Clements said: "Powerscreen has been providing the crushing and screening industry with high-quality innovative products for 50 years and we are excited to celebrate that success with those who matter, our distributors and customers."
Three new Powerscreen machines were in action at the show, including the Premiertrak 400 jaw crusher and a Trakpactor 550 impact crusher was hard at work feeding a Chieftain 2200 three-deck screen.
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