Hitachi Construction Machinery super long front proves worthwhile investment

A contractor based on the island of Gossa in western Norway has made a worthwhile investment in a super long front machine from local Hitachi Construction Machinery (HCM) dealer Nasta. Odd Småge took delivery of the ZX350LC-7 medium excavator with a five-year/6,000-hour service contract.

An invaluable excavator

While the special application machine has been working on smaller dredging and harbour maintenance projects, it has also been engaged at Shell’s natural gas field of Ormen Lange. “We have had a maintenance contract to work on this large project for nearly 20 years and the ZX350LC-7 super long front has proved to be invaluable as it can reach ten metres into the sea,” says owner Kjell Arne Småge.

“Also, we are proud of the harbours that we have helped to build, because it’s not something we’ve traditionally specialised in. There is a need for this type of work in small harbours. It’s much quicker and easier to use the super long front in such locations, because we can dig deeper into the water from the quayside – and it means that we don’t need to use our other machines on barges anymore.”

Odd Småge can also change the boom and arm back to a conventional set-up on the versatile machine for other jobs. “My favourite machine is the ZX350,” adds Kjell Arne, who has six other Zaxis excavators and a ZW wheel loader in his fleet. “It is so precise and quick to operate, as well as being very comfortable and unbelievably good to work with.”