The Classic Machinery Network

Hi All,
I just wondered if Furukawa Loaders (& other Japanese loaders) were sold in the UK & Europe? They were popular here in Australia,but I'm unsure if they had a presence over there.
I always assumed that Cat,Volvo,Benati,JCB,etc were the big sellers there.



I currently own a FL90,& always looking for spares for it & other Japanese loaders.
Let me know if you know of any spares..thanks.

Jim

Quite a few were sold in the UK.Here is one on yard duties at J.C.Balls Plant Hire of Ambergate,Derby UK taken a few years ago.

Thanks Dave,
Here's a pic of an FL90 with a backhoe attached.
The FL70s,90s,120s & 230s were popular here in the 70s-90s.
Like most Japanese gear,they were well made.

Do you guys know of a few wrecking yards in the UK.
I know of Hitchens,but a few more would help.

Thanks.

You beat me to it Dave -was just about to comment about the J C Balls machine and saw your post

In My Home country IRAQ the Japanese loaders and construction equipments are very famous , I post for Kawasaki loaders .. see here about it :
Iraqi Kawasaki
Also I have a chance for close experience with Furukawa wheeled loader when one of it ( Model FL 305-1) works in my garden and I attached some photos for it .. really work hard .. I think built in late 80' or early 90' this in Dec. 2014 ..
Here in the UAE Komatsu are widely spread

A video about it :
[video]https://youtu.be/Rg9kQaonIaM[/video]

eyadinuae,
Thanks for the pictures .
The small to medium sized Furukawa,Hitachi,TCM & Kawasaki Loaders are popular here.Lots of Cat & Komatsu too.
There is a local contractor here that has Volvo loaders ,with rippers & 4in1.He digs small farm dams & is very efficient at it.

I'm impressed by the work I get done with my 4.5 Ton FL90.I've had Dozers & Drotts on our property,but my favourite is the loader.
I've operated 966E,988B & WA600 in mining work,so working a loader in other environments is a welcome change.

Ideally,I reckon a 950 size machine would be a perfect size for property work & general contracting.

EH Hassell were UK dealers for a short time from 2001.
Furukawa's wheel loader business has been absorbed into Hitachi - at least outside the Asia-Pacific region.
I understand that the TCM wheel loader business has also been absorbed by Hitachi and that Hitchi also own a controlling stake in Kawasaki Construction Machinery.

Yes,Hitachi runs it all now.
Furukawa,Kawasaki &TCM all made good gear.
If you ever want to experience heart-failure...just get Hitachi to quote on spare parts!

Hi

We (Demex) bought a Furukawa FL200 from Marubeni Komatsu to carry out the muck away on the first section of the Newcastle Metro, starting in 1976 (main contractor C V Buchan who became Fairclough Tunnelling). Thought we would sell the machine at the end of the contract, as wheeled shovels were not thought as machines for hard digging or demolition work back in the seventies. How wrong we were. After the 2 year contract was finished we put this shovel on all kinds of demolition and muckshifting jobs and it never let us down. I believe Marubeni stopped selling them when Komatsu brought out their own wheeled loader, after manufacturing Hough Payloaders under license for some years