NEW EQUIPMENT
bauma CONEXPO Africa is Africa ’ s largest trade fair for the construction and mining equipment market , providing a great platform for companies looking to introduce new products to the African market . One company that has decided to take advantage of this year ’ s event is South Africa ’ s Maximum Equipment , which used the trade fair as a launching point for its newest offering : the HMK 370 LC heavy-duty excavator from Turkish construction machinery OEM Hidromek .
Founded in Ankara in 1978 , Hidromek initially produced attachments for agricultural tractors , before branching out into producing the first construction machines ever designed by Turkish engineers .
The decision to unveil the machines at the exhibition was made based on the company ’ s previous successful experience with the exhibition in 2015 , when it first launched its range of Hidromek excavators — only a few months after it had been appointed the OEM ’ s official South African dealer . In addition to launching the new excavator , Maximum Equipment also took advantage of this year ’ s edition of the trade fair to announce that it would be adding the Hidromek range of backhoe-loaders ( TLBs ) to its stable .
Maximum Equipment MD Vaughan Ellis explains that while the Hidromek TLBs have been available in South Africa through agent Hitachi for the past six or seven years , from the start of 2018 , Hidromek decided to consolidate its product range under a single dealer . “ As we already had the excavators , it made sense to bring the TLBs under the same umbrella , expanding the range and our offering ,” he adds .
Since its inception 21 years ago , Maximum Equipment has expanded its services from the sale of second-hand equipment into plant hire , specialising in excavators and attachments . Ellis says , “ We are really excited about this year ’ s event , because in addition to showcasing our range of Hidromek excavators and launching the new heavyduty 39-tonne HMK 370 LC HD excavator to the South African market , we will also be launching the Hidromek TLB range . This comprises two models : the HMK102B Alpha and the HMK62SS mini-TLB .”
The show was the company ’ s first official event as the dealers for the Hidromek TLB range . “ bauma was the ideal opportunity to showcase the TLBs alongside the excavators ,” Ellis comments .
Ellis observes that while this edition of bauma was not as big as previous shows , the smaller size afforded a degree of “ personalisation ” and he says that “ there was a lot of interest in our product range , from the people who mattered . The people who came to the show were generally interested ”.
HMK 370 LC HD excavator
Designed as a heavy-duty crawler excavator following extensive evaluation of working conditions and operator demands , the 39-tonne operating capacity HMK 370 LC HD is the largest machine in Maximum Equipment ’ s line-up . It introduces innovations that allow for improved performance , easy maintenance , operator
MAY 2018 15