Veteran Poclain Discovered in Finland

It’s become something of a tradition for me to go searching for old machines that are either still working or at rest during my visits to Finland, and my recent trip was no different.

Much the same as we see in the UK, many farmers now have examples of hydraulic excavators which have been purchased relatively cheaply, and which although ageing, are still very capable of putting in a day’s work as and when needed.

My good friend and industry colleague Esa Suominen of Konepörssi magazine has become very adept in finding these old machines for us to visit during my spells in the country, and is always on the lookout for hidden gems to show me.

On this occasion one of the places, we visited was the municipality of Vehmaa in South West Finland, where we met Tapani Suomi, a farmer and mechanic who had a wide variety of vehicles on his property which were very interesting, among them was this Poclain 90 B hydraulic excavator, which for its age was in excellent condition.

The Poclain 90 B CKB to give it its full handle, was produced from 1982 – 1989 and tipped the scales at 19.3-tonnes. The French built machine was an upgrade from the original A-Series model, and was powered by the familiar drone of a Deutz F6L 912 6-cylinder in line air-cooled 4-stroke diesel engine which offered a power output rating of 105hp (77.3kW).

Now as we all know, Poclain’s high pressure hydraulic system was always prone to leaks, the B Series was a vast improvement compared to the original A Series, but they still gave a lot of problems, and apparently this machine is waiting to have some replacement seals put in to enable it to work again without losing the entire contents of its hydraulic oil tank.

One thing is for sure, this excellent example will survive for many years to come at this location, and it would be great to visit it again one day to spend some time in the seat for a “retro style” test drive opportunity for Earthmovers Magazine.