Volvo celebrates 50 years of wheel loader production

Volvo Construction Equipment celebrates the 50th anniversary of its wheel loader production this month.
The first machine produced in May 1954 was the Volvo H10, the result of a pioneering design innovation.
The company claimed that by adapting an ordinary agricultural tractor unit and turning it back-to-front, it produced what was the world's first wheel loader.
By 1960, Volvo had purchased the Arvika plant in Sweden, which is still the mainstay of its wheel loader production.
Six years later it launched the LM840, described as the fore-
runner of today's E-series machines, but still featuring larger rear wheels.
Marketing manager Alan Williams said that by the time the company launched the LM845 in the late 1960s, the direct lineage to today's machines was clearly evident.
"The advantages of having four equal-sized wheels outweighed the disadvantages and the wheel loader has looked much the same ever since," Williams said.
"Technology has moved on at a pace, and one can't really compare yesterday's machines with modern loaders, it's like putting a 1960s Escort next to a Mondeo," he added.