The 550 LC and 750 excavators from John Deere are a big addition to the company’s excavator line — in fact, at weights of 127,394 and 167,602 lbs. respectively, they’re now the largest machines in it. Like their siblings, the new models feature maximized smoothness of operation, reliability, and operator comfort, the company says.

The excavators offer high productivity with an operator-focused hydraulic system that allows operation at peak performance, whether trenching, leveling, or material handling. The system provides the ultimate machine control in multi-function operations, without sacrificing function power or speed. The Powerwize engine/hydraulic system is powered by two variable displacement axial piston pumps, providing smooth movement by keeping a constant balance between pressure and flow. The controls give quick, accurate response to multi-function swing-lift-bucket operations.

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New Holland Construction’s latest excavators include the new EC215 crawler excavator, and the EW200 and EW220 wheeled excavators. The EC215 is a 152-hp model with a dig depth of over 23.5 ft., boasting the highest hp offered by any machine in the 20- to 22-t. class, as well as the longest undercarriage track length at almost 15 ft.

The two new wheeled models link outstanding performance with ease of operation and reduced servicing costs, but because they are wheeled instead of tracked, they offer greater mobility. "Wheeled excavators are well-suited to working in cities, tight urban confines, and roads," says product marketing manager Paul Manger. "They can be used on work sites on narrow city streets without having to be transported on a trailer, and they can be moved without damaging the street. [They] can often work in a street and block only a single lane of traffic, whereas when you move a crawler excavator, the whole street might have to be blocked off. Or, if you’re working on the median of a highway and you’re moving the machine, it’s much more mobile."

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The new Gradall XL 2300 hydraulic excavator, right, is the first machine ever with the designed-in ability to perform a wide range of mid-sized jobs while providing fast and sure-footed mobility over rough terrain, the company says. It weighs just 27,800 lbs. and has high-pressure, load-sensing hydraulics, automatically delivering ideal power and speed needed for a full range of jobs.

Without the need to select the right operating mode, the XL 2300 delivers optimum fuel economy while trenching, ditching, loading, unloading, ripping, breaking, material handling, and even cleaning up. The boom is designed and built for exceptional strength including double roller brackets to assure smooth telescoping movements.

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The Dominator M2208 is part of Dig-It’s new Millennium Series. The compact TLB has a 9.1-cu. ft. bucket capacity and 1,700-lb. lift capacity. It also has simple, easy-to-learn controls, compact maneuverability, lightweight design, and high-flotation tires. The company says it’s the ideal rental machine for contractors and others with smaller jobs. The Dominator is available with a durable, 21-hp Kubota diesel engine for low maintenance and dependable operation.

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How’s this for compact — the new K008 Ultra Compact Excavator will fit through a standard door frame. We don’t know how useful that will be in building roads, but it’s pretty interesting nonetheless. The Kubota Tractor Corporation reinforces on the success of its Compact KX-2 excavators with the K008, incorporating virtually all the design features and specifications that made its predecessor popular.

The K008 accesses hard-to-reach or restricted areas. Its hydraulically adjustable track frame allows the operator to adjust the position of the tracks with a simple motion of the control lever. It weighs only 1,906 lbs., so it’s easy to transport from jobsite to jobsite, and it will dig to a depth of just over 5.5 ft. Dump height abilities go to a little over 6.5 ft., too.

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Athey’s Model 712 Force Feed Loader has a turbocharged, single diesel engine with off-road, 50-state certification, and low hp requirement for economy. It’s a versatile machine that performs a variety of functions that include ditch cleaning. Other uses are municipal leaf loading, loading/unloading in salt storage, milling operations, and snow removal, among many more. It has a maximum loading capacity of 10 cu. yd/min. in loose material and 20 cu. yd./min. in snow.

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Bobcat Ingersoll-Rand has the new Bobcat 863 and 873 G-Series skid-steer loaders with advanced cab and instrumentation design, along with improved operating power over previous models. Powered by a 73-hp Deutz diesel engine, the 873 features a new vertical-path lift arm design for better visibility, especially to the tires and rear corners. The lift arm uses thicker steel and larger-diameter rear pivot pins to improve durability and decrease side movement by 40%.

The 863 is also powered by a 73-hp Deutz diesel engine, offering optional high-flow auxiliary hydraulic output at 29 GPM, increased from 28 GPM on the previous model. Bobcat has also announced four other models in the G-Series line — the 751, 753, 763, and 963 skid-steer loaders — all with value-added options such as deluxe instrumentation and dual-mode auxiliary hydraulics.

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Deere’s H-Series wheel loader line is expanding to include the 324H four-wheel-drive loader. Like the larger 344H, the 324H is designed to serve a variety of markets, such as rental, material handling, road construction, governmental, and underground, among others. The loader competes in the under-100-hp class and features maximum operator comfort and visibility, enhanced maneuverability, and increased versatility.

In dozers, major improvements such as a new pinned crossbar, single-lever steering, direction, and ground speed control, and six-way blade make the 750C and 850C Series II dozers welcome additions to Deere’s expanding crawler dozer line.

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New Holland Construction’s new wheel loader model LW130TC is an integrated tool carrier with the breakout force needed for digging operations and the capability to run a variety of work tools. It features class-leading power-to-weight ratios, excellent stability, and fast performance, and is especially well-suited to large-site contractors who require multiple-use machines on their job sites.

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The new TA25, from Terex, is a 25-t. articulated dump truck fitted with some of the latest performance-enhancing technology. A newly developed, high-power, high-torque, emission-certified Cummins 6CTA8.3 engine is coupled to the latest of the ZF transmissions, delivering 8% more hp and 10% more torque than in the previous model.

Terex also offers the new TS14G scraper that continues a very successful powertrain, but the engines have been uprated to more powerful, electronically controlled fly by wire versions that feature better fuel consumption, improved durability, and compliance with current EPA emissions levels. The combined power of the engines is 340 hp.

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Volvo Construction Equipment Group says the new Champion Series VI motor graders is the most advanced and comprehensive lineup available in the industry today. The series offers a size and weight for every jobsite application. Productivity and performance are as much a part of the Series VI compact graders, which range from 9,420 to 15,870 lbs., as they are of the Production Class 700 Series, which range in size from 30,630 to 42,740 lbs.

The compact graders offer the precision and control of hydrostatic drive while the 700 Series graders feature the proven 8400 fully sequential direct drive power shift transmission. Both machine classes offer industry-leading blade control, and down-pressure and superior operating control features that ensure an improved and safer place to work.

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For large-scale land development and right-of-way clearing work, Rayco Mfg., Inc. has introduced an all-new, track-drive site preparation tractor. The multi-purpose machine is called the T275 Hydra-Stumper and, with the 8,000-lb. Forestry Mower/Mulcher attachment, has the capacity of mowing standing trees and underbrush up to 10 in. in diameter when the machine travels forward. The 110-in.-wide mulcher lifts the debris from the forestry floor and grinds it to a mulch when the machine is driven in reverse.

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Reiter Industries Inc. has come out with an all-plastic dump body that’s designed to fit neatly into a steel support frame attachable to the truck chassis. The one-piece, seamless dump body is rotationally molded using a special plastic resin. The body won’t dent when hauling materials such as riprap, rock, and broken concrete, and no protective wood boarding needs to be installed.

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