Poclain fans and veterans celebrate 90th anniversary

by Nick Drew | Wed 03 May 2017

Poclain fans and veterans celebrate 90th anniversary

This past weekend saw an event take place to celebrate the 90^th anniversary of French excavator manufacturer Poclain, our friend and former Poclain/Case demonstrator Martin Bourbonneux made the trip across the channel and has kindly sent in some photos from the 3 day show.

It was 1927 when a French engineer named Georges Bataille set up in business doing repairs to agricultural machinery in Le Plessis Belleville using the name “Ateliers de Poclain”. In the early years the company manufactured agricultural and forestry equipment but it wasn’t until 1951 that they actually produced their first excavator the ungainly looking TU model which only had limited slew capabilities. This machine was either towed or was mounted on the back of trucks. The company went on to produce some of the most technically advanced and modern looking machines of their generation, in many ways they were ahead of their time, but without a doubt the French manufacturer made its mark on the way hydraulic excavators were designed and produced.

This modern day gathering of Poclain machines, memorabilia and people was organised by a number of parties but primarily by the Fondation Poclain, a foundation set up by members of the Generation Deux organization and the Plessis-Belleville City Hall to preserve as much history about this historical old manufacturer whose machines were once sold all around the world. In the shot below we see the strange tri-angular set up of the TY45 which was first launched in 1961. These things sold like hot cakes all over the world and became a best seller for the French manufacturer. Sat behind the machine we see another example of the aforementioned TU backhoe mounted on an old military truck.

One of the most well-known machines in later years in the UK market was the Poclain 60, this particular example has been restored for French contractor P. Bastet, by Roland Guitton and is the wheeled (rubber duck) 60P variant. These machines were produced in the company’s Crepy-en-Valois factory from 1976 to 1982. They were powered by a 62.1hp Deutz F4L912 air cooled engine. These machines in their tracked version were marketed aggressively in the UK market in the late 70’s and early 80’s and they seemed to be on every site I worked on back in those days! I spent some time on a tracked backhoe version in the early 80’s and at the time they were way ahead of anything else on the market.

This fine restoration of the larger Poclain 125 B model was also on display. Weighing somewhere in the region of 23-25 tonnes depending on specification, these machines were powered by a 106kw Deutz F6L913 six cylinder air cooled engine.

There were a good number of wheeled versions on display at the event, including this rare prototype model the Poclain 101. Based on the earlier 61 and 81 models, back in the day only a few of these 101 machines had been produced but this was around the time that Case were taking over the business and this model actually went on to become the much loved 1088 in Case-Poclain colours.

Of course the biggest star of the show was the mighty Poclain 1000. This machine was once the largest production hydraulic excavator in the world, with the final 1000CK model weighing up to 190 tons. This model, was in production from 1975 until 1984 and the machine was capable of handling buckets up to 17m3 (22 cu yds). It was available in face shovel or backhoe guises. This giant probably posed the biggest problems for the event organizers, as it had to be dismantled for transport from where it is stored these days and rebuilt at the event venue and vice versa at the end of the show, but such is the dedication of the people behind this movement it was important for this machine to be present on the day.

Nestling in front of the giant 1000 was as I understand it, Poclain’s first and only entry into the mini excavator market the 35CK. Launched in 1981 it was an 11,000lb machine c/w dozer blade, the machine which I believe was affectionately known as “The Little Ant” was powered by a 37.5hp Mercedes OM615 engine, and had a bucket capacity of ¼ yd3. These machines were built at the company’s Spanish facility in Saragossa, from 1981 until 1985.

As is customary at these events there were a good number of scale models on display indoors, alongside archive photos and other historical memorabilia from times past.

The most stunning model was to be found outside being “put to work”. This remote control scale model of a Poclain 350 is, if memory serves me right owned by Roger Happel, and is seen here in action at the event. Also of note in this photo is what looks like an LY80 wheeled excavator in the background fitted with a clamshell grab.

This event looked fantastic and I would have loved to have been able to attend, we thank Martin for sharing his photos with us here on the Digger Man Blog.

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