THE PLANT MAN'S MECCA

The statistics are truly impressive - Bauma '95 will have 1,400 companies from over 30 countries exhibiting on 400,000m2 of stand space. And last year, 322,000 visitors from 109 countries checked in which is the reason why you will need your tent if you have not booked a hotel room. This year will produce more new machines than at any previous Bauma because most manufacturers have been holding back for the exhibition as well as waiting for the market to pick up.

Starting with our own home grown companies, JCB is going to Germany with three all-new machines, the 426 and 436 wheeled loaders and 185 Robot skidsteer. The current line-up of wheeled loaders comprises four basic models spanning the 7.3t to 14t range. The company conducted extensive market research with the result that both the larger 426 and 436 will be available with either in-line or Z bar linkage front ends to suit a wide range of applications.

The Z bar units will be designated ZX Hi Power and will be aimed at the extractive industries where breakout force and digging power are of prime importance. The in-line versions, branded Hi Torque, will be more suitable for industrial, civil and waste sectors where maximum digging and breakout forces are not the top priority.

Following the brief affair of mounting the cab on the front chassis, the company has listened to its customers and both units now have cabs on the rear half of the machine. The overall styling may not appeal to everyone, but nobody will complain about the cab, control layout, visibility, or for that matter noise levels. On the inside, this is about as good as you can get, no matter whose logo is painted on the bonnet.

Internal levels are quoted at 74Lpa for the 426 and 75Lpa for the bigger unit. Subjectively, the smaller machine sounds very much quieter and smoother when working hard than its bigger brother.

Perkins in the form of the 1000-6 is used to power both machines, 102kw at 2,200rpm in the 426 and 122kW at the same engine speed in the larger. ZF four-speed powershift and add-on electronics provides fully automatic gear shifting with the obligatory loader control mounted kickdown button as standard.

Italian Graziano axles with oil-immersed multi-disc brakes and Super Max-Trac differentials in each axle eliminate wheel spin without the need for the operator to intervene. Note also that the brakes are full power, direct acting hydraulic and there are transmission disconnect switches built into the dash panel and loader control.

A short test in very heavy compacted sandy loam proved that the gears change smoothly, and at the right time. The balance between engine power, tractive effort and hydraulic power requirement is also good. On longer hauls, operators can limit the up changes to suit or allow the box to hunt across all four gears. An optional ride control comprising the usual accumulators in the loader lift circuit is available.

The 426 comes with a standard 1.8m3 bucket, 42.5¼ roll back at ground and 49¼ dump at full height. Dump height at 45¼ is a handy 2.96m with just under 1.0m forward reach, a viable proposition to match up to six and eight wheel on-off highway tippers.

The 436 comes with a 2.3m3 and exactly the same crowd and dump angles as the 426. Dump height is quoted as 3.1m with a forward reach at 45¼ of 1.1m.

JCB's latest skidsteer, the Robot 185 joins the 150 and 165, launched two years ago, and features the single arm design that is still a major talking point with the competition.

The new unit weighs in at 3.24t, uses 3.9 litres of Perkins to give 56kW gross and delivers an operating capacity of 850kg. Attachment pump output is rated at 75 litre/min at 220 bar and an optional high flow circuit provides 140 litre/min. All controls are servo assisted and twin travel speeds give 0-8kmph and 0-17kmph.

Thwaites, at long last bit the bullet and diversified up the payload chart with the TD18 articulated dumptruck which should get its first public airing at Bauma. It may be touch and go as to whether the company has the unit completed in time to show, but if the finished article looks as good as the picture, it should be a winner.

Why Thwaites moved from its current big 7t dumper so far up the payload scale to 16t is a conundrum since we understand the growing market is in the 12-14t sector and secondly, 16t is only 2t short of the conventional adt market and dangerously close to market leader Volvo.

The TD18 is powered by an Iveco 120kW six cylinder diesel driving both axles through a ZF six-speed powershift giving a top road speed of 51kmph. Double reduction axles with limited slip diffs front and rear and dual circuit full power discs are standard. Suspension is via a three point linkage system and trailing arms with Aeon rubber springs.

The body is fabricated from Hardox 400 high yield, wear resistant steel with heavily reinforced box sections at the major stress points. Twin single stage double acting rams take care of tipping and an optional tail gate with an hydraulic lock keeps free flowing material in check.

MF Industrial, aka Fermec, has something up its sleeve for Bauma, but is saying nothing at the moment. In the meantime, we can tell you about the company's latest skidsteer, the MF518. The machine is available in either standard or XP guise which means oil flows of 70 litres or 169 litre/min. To put in class, the unit weighs in at 3.13t, has an operating capacity of 850kg and is powered by a Perkins 1004.4 rated at 69kW.

The machine sits on a 1,016mm wheelbase and offers a loader performance that in some respects is in the next class up. Bucket breakout force is quoted at 2.3t, roll back at ground 27¼, and dump height 2.4m at a maximum dump angle of 41¼. The 518 will bring the MF line up of skidsteers to five models.

To prove that you do not have to be a giant to go the Bauma, Sandhurst Manufacturing will be showing two brand new products alongside its Telelight mobile lighting towers and Gen-Pac silenced gensets.

New to the range is the MX 14-1 mini excavator weighing in at 1.4t and powered by the new water-cooled Mitsubishi L3E diesel developing 15kW giving 1.3t breakout on the bucket and 850kg digging force on the dipper.

Another first for Bauma is the CX 220 Starlifter, a compact mobile crane designed specifically for work in restricted space and rough terrain. The unit weighs in at 3.5t, has a two stage telescopic boom and is rated, with safe load indicator, at 2.2t.

With its high mobility rubber tracks, 360¼ slew and a winch drum that allows a 40m single fall drop, the CX 220 can be used in applications that traditionally may have required additional plant.

OK, so they are not home grown, but Volvo will be unveiling a whole rake of new equipment including new wheeled loaders and a big 40t artic dumptruck. The L90C and L120C loaders use the patented TP (torque parallel) loader linkage system, new low emission engines and improved transmissions.

In-cab noise levels are remarkably low - quoted figures are 70-72dB(A). Gear shifting is fully automatic and an improved version of the original system while stopping power is via hub-mounted oil-cooled multi-disc brakes.