Look ahead to Hillhead with a look back

by Nick Drew | Mon 27 Jun 2016

Look ahead to Hillhead with a look back

Hillhead 2016 opens its doors tomorrow 28^th June and runs for 3 days at the Hillhead Quarry. Buxton in Derbyshire, in this post I will take a look back at some of my highlights from previous shows.

My first visit to Hillhead was in 2005 having only ever visited the SED Show before when it was held every year at its Fen Farm venue in Milton Keynes. I can still recall my first breath-taking view down into the quarry from the vantage point at the top of the ramp, an iconic view that is always associated with the Hillhead show. hillhead 2005 003

At the 2005 event I recall that on the Bell stand the company were displaying excavators which were badged Hyundai Dash-7 models like this 45 tonne class B450CDLC. This arrangement was not to last long in the UK though but some of these machines can still be found operating out there in the field. hillhead 2005 005

On the Finning stand at the 2005 event Caterpillar were launching the T Series tracked type tractors and on display was a great looking D9T model. hillhead 2005 009

Hillhead is always a good show for Terex and in 2005 the company displayed both articulated haulers and this rigid chassis TR70 dumptruck. hillhead 2005 016

Jumping forward a couple of years now to the 2007 event and more of the bigger kit we have come to expect from Hillhead shows. On the Marubeni-Komatsu stand we were treated to a PC800LC hydraulic excavator and a HD605 rigid hauler. SS850172

Liebherr GB displayed the then new R 964 C SME Litronic excavator a 75 tonne class machine in mass excavation configuration. Power came from a Liebherr 320kw (434hp) engine. SS850161

Big buckets were also on show during the 2007 event like this one manufactured by Miller for a large Hitachi machine which if memory serves me right was heading to Spain after the show. I'm seen stood in the bucket (Right) with Hymac expert and historian Jeremy Rowland on the left. J & N

Finally in this post a couple of shots from the Hillhead 2012 show. This photo shows the wide variety of machines which can be seen at Hillhead. In the foreground we have a JCB 1CX compact backhoe loader which is towered over by the giant Cat 6030 face shovel in the background.

And to round off this post a machine that we are unlikely to ever see again on the Volvo stand, the popular BL71B backhoe loader which has since been discontinued from the range.

If you are visiting the show this year, have a great time and I look forward to meeting some of you on my travels around the showground.

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