40 Year Old Hymac, Still Putting in a Shift in Sweden

As documented many times on this blog, the old British built Hymac 580D has a special place in my heart, having spent 9 years operating one back in the 1980’s for a local firm in Southampton, so I was delighted to receive a message about a 580DS model that is still working daily in Sweden.

Anders Jonasson has been documenting his purchase of the 1986 model NEI Hymac 580DS since 2016, on the long-established and respected Swedish machinery forum Maskinisten.net, and the transformation of this venerable machine is spectacular.

The 580DS model was aimed at the export market and featured a number of upgrades compared to the standard UK spec, primarily that it was fitted with a slew brake, had additional guarding around the track drive hydraulic pipework, had an electric fuel pump, and improved heating and insulation, which was essential for markets such as Sweden and the Nordics, where Hymac’s proved to be very popular.

Anders model is a 1986 and is believed to be one of the last 580D’s built, the work he has put into this machine is incredible, and as anyone who has operated or owned a Hymac knows, it can be a labour of love to keep these things going, with the quirky gearbox failures, brake bands to deal with and inevitable hydraulic oil leaks.

Fortunately, Anders looks like a very “hands-on” type of guy and is very capable of undertaking the engineering and maintenance work himself. There has been a lot of upgrading work done on the machine, including refurbishment of the cab, and adding tilting buckets, followed by a tilting coupler, and most recently Anders invested in an older model Rototilt tiltrotator, which once again, he refurbished himself and is now mounted on the machine.

Its incredible to see this 40-year-old machine with the modern technology of a tiltrotator added to it and still working on a daily basis. You can view the whole thread by clicking on this link.

Here’s a video of the machine working some 4 years ago.