Dig the new breed

also making its first appearance, failed to sport the new livery. Instead it was painted in the colours of Flint-based Bryn Thomas Crane Hire, who was the first UK buyer among the more than 100 worldwide who placed orders for the 5-axle all terrain unit, even before it went into production in April.

The other newcomer to Grove's crane line-up was the 180t capacity GMK 5180. This features Grove's new MegaForm boom design and also has jib extensions which take the lift height up to an impressive 98m.

On the access side, the company was launching the new 26.2m T86J Manlift with telescopic boom. This features what Grove has designated an 'interactive counterweight system', which in effect does away with the need for extendible axles.

However, Maxxiom's new passenger and materials hoist not only climbs higher but even does away with the need for a driver. Maxxiom developed the hoist with Alimak at the suggestion of a major customer who saw that savings could be made by doing away with a full-time hoist operator, especially on large sites with a number of hoists.

The new unit offers a dual mode switchable control. In automatic mode it operates like a lift in any office building or department store with a push-button control panel in the cage into which you punch the number of the floor required.

The system sorts the calls to stop at floors as requested until the highest is reached. If no further calls are registered it stops at the last landing level until it is called again. Capacity is 2000kg and the hoist has a range of safety, overload warning and alarm systems.

Mortimer is another company that responded to customer requests to produce a clear-sided pedestrian vibrating asphalt roller. "Customers kept asking for a unit which would compact driveways right up to the party wall," said sales director Julian Green, who claimed this was the only unit of its type of the UK market. Mortimer has recently acquired the rights to the former Stothert & Pitt roller range and the Vibroll name was on new models at SED.

SED gets bigger each year, so with all that ground to cover it wouldn't have been too surprising if someone had volunteered to carry out a 20-minute road test of Rollalong's new Lodja portable sleeping unit. This was being launched along with the Lodja Dine unit and a new non-mains washroom and toilet unit that does not need a generator.

Also on the portable accommodation front, SGB could hardly have chosen a better venue to launch its double-stacked hospitality unit. This was originally designed for the corporate entertainment market, but while it was under development a number of construction industry clients expressed an interest, seeing them as ideal for sales suites for housing developments or for use on major projects.

Small-scale machinery seems to be the flavour of the month - and not just mini-excavators, although there were plenty of those. Schaeff showed off its 3.3t SCL515 mini-loader, which will be available from July this year. This is an artic machine, hydrostatically driven and only 1.55m wide and 2m high. Engine is a 37kW Deutz and the machine carries a standard 0.5m3 bucket.

Another small newcomer was the Taskmaster, which made its debut on the Lewis Equipment stand. The Taskmaster 900 T-G mini skid steer is a stand-on machine that can take a number of attachments. Lewis is claiming more than 20 and doubtless more will come. The machine has two hydraulic systems, one with a 32litre/min flow at 206bar, the other 11litre/min flow. These can be switched to operate either the loader functions or the attachment according to demand.

Atlas, a first-time exhibitor in 1999, was this year able to show a full line-up of Morooka tracked dumpers including a new road/rail version, the Traxcarrier 1500. Swivel skips are a new option on these units. Demand for this type of carrier seems to be increasing and four of the firm's own machines are currently on hire to a major project which although dogged by bad weather is still on programme.

A new compact floor saw was unveiled on the Belle stand. The AFS350 uses a new low-vibration technology gas strut to lower the 350mm blade smoothly into the ground. The anti-vibration technology, developed after a year of research, is also being used on a range of high performance compactors. They come in seven sizes, from 300mm to 600mm and 63 to 89 kg. They made their SED debut this year, though they were originally launched at Hirex. Operators can safely use the high-performing 400mm model up to four times longer than conventional machines, which has prompted two local authorities to specify their use in tender documents.

Also debuting at SED was Belle's 2000 range of skid steers, which made a stunning spectacle in the demo area as wheely-performing operators put them through their paces. The main innovation is a switch to a Yanmar power source that delivers lower emissions and noise levels, together with more power (18% in the case of the 320kg model).

Improvements to electrical systems and cab designs have also been made.

Over at Bunkabin's stand a new accommodation product was on show - the 12-berth sleeper cabin. Designed to be a fully self-contained unit, it can accommodate a dozen men in 12 rooms with toilet and shower facilities. The cost of hiring the product for a week is £1,200, or £100 a man.

Programming lies at the heart of a new on-line service launched at SED- www.proXchange.com. This is a website for the sale of professional equipment and machinery, including construction machinery. Each market sector is dealt with separately under the control of a specialist. The site now operates across Europe and is available in English, French and German, with Italian to be added shortly.

Buyers and sellers are put in touch after an initial approach through the website, and ProXchange offers an inspection and certification services well as credit insurance. Walking around SED it seemed that there were more new launches than ever this year. Some had been well publicised, some had made their way across the channel from the Intermat show in Paris to make their UK debut at Milton Keynes, and some only just made it to SED.

This was the case at GreenMech, showing in th esite clearance area. The company's new industrial shredder was finished late on Monday, just in time to make it to the show. The ShredMaster 1400-110 has a 82kW Isuzu diesel that powers a massive 1.4m rotor equipped with 32 steel discs and capable of chewing up serious amounts of waste wood.

The rotor is divided into two sections, each of which spirals the shredded waste towards twin discharge chutes, preventing congestion and blocking. Also new on this stand was the StumpMaster; a small and manoeuvrable unit for dealing with tree stumps. It can deal with stumps up to 600mm high, down to 580mm below ground. Not surprisingly, GreenMech paints its kit in a nice bright green.

Another company with a new, bright face was Grove, which launched its brand new corporate styling. This was the first opportunity for the UK to see the company's new look, but the 100t all-terrain GMK 5100, which was also making its first appearance, failed to sport the new livery. Instead it was painted in the colours of Flint-based Bryn Thomas Crane Hire, who was the first UK buyer among the more than 100 worldwide who placed orders for the 5-axle all terrain unit, even before it went into production in April.

The other newcomer to Grove's crane line-up was the 180t capacity GMK 5180. This features Grove's new MegaForm boom design and also has jib extensions which take the lift height up to an impressive 98m.

On the access side, the company was launching the new 26.2m T86J Manlift with telescopic boom. This features what Grove has designated an 'interactive counterweight system', which in effect does away with the need for extendible axles.

However, Maxxiom's new passenger and materials hoist not only climbs higher but even does away with the need for a driver. Maxxiom developed the hoist with Alimak at the suggestion of a major customer who saw that savings could be made by doing away with a full-time hoist operator, especially on large sites with a number of hoists.

The new unit offers a dual mode switchable control. In automatic mode it operates like a lift in any office building or department store with a push-button control panel in the cage into which you punch the number of the floor required.

The system sorts the calls to stop at floors as requested until the highest is reached. If no further calls are registered it stops at the last landing level until it is called again. Capacity is 2000kg and the hoist has a range of safety, overload warning and alarm systems.

Mortimer is another company that responded to customer requests to produce a clear-sided pedestrian vibrating asphalt roller. "Customers kept asking for a unit which would compact driveways right up to the party wall," said sales director Julian Green, who claimed this was the only unit of its type of the UK market. Mortimer has recently acquired the rights to the former Stothert & Pitt roller range and the Vibroll name was on new models at SED.

SED gets bigger each year, so with all that ground to cover it wouldn't have been too surprising if someone had volunteered to carry out a 20-minute road test of Rollalong's new Lodja portable sleeping unit. This was being launched along with the Lodja Dine unit and a new non-mains washroom and toilet unit that does not need a generator.

Also on the portable accommodation front, SGB could hardly have chosen a better venue to launch its double-stacked hospitality unit. This was originally designed for the corporate entertainment market, but while it was under development a number of construction industry clients expressed an interest, seeing them as ideal for sales suites for housing developments or for use on major projects.

Small-scale machinery seems to be the flavour of the month - and not just mini-excavators, although there were plenty of those. Schaeff showed off its 3.3t SCL515 mini-loader, which will be available from July this year. This is an artic machine, hydrostatically driven and only 1.55m wide and 2m high. Engine is a 37kW Deutz and the machine carries a standard 0.5m3 bucket.

Another small newcomer was the Taskmaster, which made its debut on the Lewis Equipment stand. The Taskmaster 900 T-G mini skid steer is a stand-on machine that can take a number of attachments. Lewis is claiming more than 20 and doubtless more will come. The machine has two hydraulic systems, one with a 32litre/min flow at 206bar, the other 11litre/min flow. These can be switched to operate either the loader functions or the attachment according to demand.

Atlas, a first-time exhibitor in 1999, was this year able to show a full line-up of Morooka tracked dumpers including a new road/rail version, the Traxcarrier 1500. Swivel skips are a new option on these units. Demand for this type of carrier seems to be increasing and four of the firm's own machines are currently on hire to a major project which although dogged by bad weather is still on programme.

A new compact floor saw was unveiled on the Belle stand. The AFS350 uses a new low-vibration technology gas strut to lower the 350mm blade smoothly into the ground. The anti-vibration technology, developed after a year of research, is also being used on a range of high performance compactors. They come in seven sizes, from 300mm to 600mm and 63 to 89 kg. They made their SED debut this year, though they were originally launched at Hirex. Operators can safely use the high-performing 400mm model up to four times longer than conventional machines, which has prompted two local authorities to specify their use in tender documents.

Also debuting at SED was Belle's 2000 range of skid steers, which made a stunning spectacle in the demo area as wheely-performing operators put them through their paces. The main innovation is a switch to a Yanmar power source that delivers lower emissions and noise levels, together with more power (18% in the case of the 320kg model).

Improvements to electrical systems and cab designs have also been made.

Over at Bunkabin's stand a new accommodation product was on show - the 12-berth sleeper cabin. Designed to be a fully self-contained unit, it can accommodate a dozen men in 12 rooms with toilet and shower facilities. The cost of hiring the product for a week is £1,200, or £100 a man.

Programming lies at the heart of a new on-line service launched at SED- www.proXchange.com. This is a website for the sale of professional equipment and machinery, including construction machinery. Each market sector is dealt with separately under the control of a specialist. The site now operates across Europe and is available in English, French and German, with Italian to be added shortly.

Buyers and sellers are put in touch after an initial approach through the website, and ProXchange offers an inspection and certification services well as credit insurance.