Odd Småge bringing UH033 back to life

The Norwegian contractor Odd Småge is restoring a Hitachi Construction Machinery (HCM) UH033 excavator that it came across in rather unusual circumstances. Owner Kjell Arne Småge takes up the story…

An unusual story

“I used to work with a guy called Terje Myklebust, who lived on the island of Harøya. He had four machines at his disposal: a ZX280LC-3, ZX130, ZX85US-3 and… a UH033! When the family-run company was put up for sale in 2015, they offered me the business first – along with the four machines as part of the deal.

“We knew each other well, so the whole arrangement was like doing a favour for the family. Terje had bought the UH033 from new and had kept it for loading a trailer. When it was delivered to our yard, I was sceptical about taking it on as a project and even thought about selling it.

“However, Ola – our contact at the HCM dealer, Nasta – persuaded me to keep it. And now we have started the refurbishment process with the fitment of a new set of tracks that came with the machine. We will see what happens… At the moment I would still like to sell it, but my son wants to keep it!”