A Classic Amongst the Hitachi Technology at Bauma

Like so many at Bauma 2022, the Hitachi Construction Equipment stand was brimming with new electric machine technology, but for those of us with a penchant for old machines a real treat was lurking on the stand.

Hitachi Construction Machinery (Europe) (HCME) have been celebrating 50 years in business in Europe this year and as such wanted to display a machine that would be a symbol of Hitachi’s manufacturing heritage, and the globally renowned reliability of the products over the years.

To celebrate this the company displayed a 1976 model UH04 hydraulic excavator, that had undergone a full factory finish restoration, and what a cracking job they have done with it too!

The machine which tips the scales at 10.500kgs was/is powered by a six cylinder HINO EC100A  diesel engine which were a very popular power unit back in those days.

I have fond memories of time spent on a UH04 back in the early to mid-1980’s with a Southampton based company called Itchen Plant Hire. The owner Alan Pulford, formerly of Bath Plant Hire, had purchased a batch of refurbished UH series machines that had been prepared by the then Hitachi dealers Beazer Plant Sales who were based in Bridgwater, Somerset.

Photo Courtesy of : van A de op Hitachi on Pinterest 

The models he ran included a UH02, UH04 and UH07, I spent the odd day on all three of them, and later Mr Pulford purchased a second UH02 for me to operate, and had my name painted on the door, along with a viking helmet and an ice hockey stick, in recognition of me playing for Southampton Vikings ice hockey team back in the day, a really nice touch I thought.

The first UH Series machine designed and produced in Japan by Hitachi was the iconic UH03, which they launched in 1965. By the early 1980’s Hitachi had UH models ranging from 6.8-tonnes up to 157-tonnes, the UH Series ran until 1986 when it was replaced by the EX-Series of machines.

It was fantastic to see this machine taking pride of place with all its modern-day counterparts, and it’s nice to know that for the foreseeable future it will be taking up residence at the HCME HQ in Amsterdam.  

Take a walkaround the UH04 at Bauma.