From pirates to Formula 1: an artistic touch to heavy machinery

A unique excavator

Norwegian customer Kartevoll AS has a winning formula for its fleet of Hitachi excavators – customising them with unique paintwork to stand out from the competition and keeping their skilled operators happy.

It started with a specially decorated ZX210LC-5 crawler excavator inspired by the Pirates of the Caribbean films, which became a popular sight in Mjåvann. It was followed five and half years ago by a ZX250LC-6 painted with a design illustrating the entire history of the company.

Johnny Tveit is the lucky operator who worked with the two painted machines – and he gets to sit in the cab of the latest addition to the company’s fleet, a ZX225USLC-7, which is adorned with an artistic tribute to Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen.

Perfect fit

Both Johnny and Vidar Kartevoll, general manager of Kartevoll AS, seem happy with their choice of machine, which was supplied by Hitachi dealer Nasta. “It's a nice size. We don't need any bigger machines for the projects we have now,” says Vidar.

Johnny, who has also tested a ZX135US from the new Zaxis-7 series, is looking forward to putting the new machine to use: “I have been allowed to choose a lot myself, so I have a lot of faith. I have operated Hitachi for a long time now and was very satisfied with the previous ZX250LC-6. It has gone incredibly well, and I have always been satisfied with Nasta. So, this will be fun!”

Inspired by Formula 1

The company O Kartevoll AS was established in 1953 by Oskar Kartevoll and has held the motto of ‘service, punctuality and quality’ from day one. In 1983, two of his sons took over. Today and since 2005, it is Vidar Kartevoll who is the owner and General Manager of the company, as the third generation.

Vidar's son, Kenneth, also now works for the company. "Both Kenneth and Johnny are really interested in Formula 1," says Vidar, "so this became the design this time."

Driving impact

Vidar is completely clear as to why he is doing this: "It's a fantastic advertisement, after all. It's not expensive either if you compare it to other things. This costs less than a large advertisement in the newspaper, and lasts much longer – for many years, in fact. It's clearly a machine with a bit of extra stuff, but when you have good operators who take care of the equipment, it's just nice.”