by Nick Drew | Wed 05 Apr 2017
Classic Hitachi is a job well done in Finland
Thinking ahead about my visit to Finland over the coming days has got me wondering if this machine will be making an appearance at the Mansen Morinat show that I will be attending towards the end of this week in Tampere, so I thought I would re-post this blog which features some photos shared by our Finnish friend Arto Turpeinen featuring a restoration job of a 1983 Hitachi UH081 courtesy of Finnish Hitachi importer Rotator Oy.
This classic Hitachi UH081 machine was purchased and fully restored to as new condition to celebrate Rotator Oy’s 30th year as the main Hitachi importer and dealer in Finland. Incredibly and a testament to Hitachi’s enduring quality, when the old machine was first purchased a few years ago, there was very little that needed to be done to the hydraulic pumps or the Hino engine which in those days was the standard fitment on many Hitachi excavators.
Coincidently the very first Hitachi was sold into Finland by Rotator Oy in 1983 and that is why they decided to track down and restore one of these models. In the main all that was needed to be done was cosmetic touches to the exterior as considering the machines age it was still in pretty good condition.
They decided to change the head gasket on the engine and fitted a new water pump so it ran better. One of the biggest problems the team faced was the restoration of the cabin, which was in a bad way as it had been subject to a small fire at some point in the past. Many of the parts required were no longer available, so these had to be ordered and in some cases specially made to order. But I think you will agree they have done a cracking job inside.
Around 100 litres of paint was used to respray the machine which was specially made to be an almost exact replica of the paint colour back in those days. In addition to the orange it’s worth noting that the machine has been painted with the familiar Scandinavian black boom that used to be a common feature on machines in those regions.
Of course the machine in its original form did not have any of today’s CE- certifications, so local authorities were brought in to check the machine over and issue the necessary documentation. The 19.4 tonne UH081 was powered by the aforementioned Hino EL100 engine which offered a power output rating of 81kw (110hp), while the latest 21 tonne class ZX210LC-5B takes its power from an Isuzu AM-4HKIX which offers a power output of 122kw (165hp).
Last spring Arto’s magazine compared the old Hitachi UH081 with the manufacturer’s latest equivalent model the ZX210LC-5B for an in depth article and produced the following video on the machines.
Arto commented that the difference in ergonomics was huge with the cab on the old machine feeling very claustrophobic and cramped and of course those of us that have operated the UH models in the past will recall that the control layout was totally different to the standard models today. On the UH models the slew and dipper function was still on the left hand lever/joystick but not in the traditional layout we are used to today, with the dipper movement being left and right and the slew being actuated by a forward and back movement on the lever. It used to cause some head scratching to start with but like most things, you soon got used to it!.
We would like to thank the copyright owner of these photos Rotator Oy and Koneviesti for sharing them with us on the Digger Man Blog.