Since May 2011, Chinas machinery growth has slowed down. Especially after the entry of 2012, the commodity housing purchase quota policy and the slackened construction of large-sized infrastructure such as railway, etc., coupled with the successive launch of second-hand excavators into market, has resulted in drastic decline of the demand of medium-and-large-sized excavators. In such context, the demand for small excavators is booming. According to the statistics, Chinas 24 major excavator manufacturers had sold 24,691 excavators from January to April, accounting for 41.98% of the total sales. Therefore, small excavators contributed to half sales in the first half of 2012, enjoying a promising prospect.

National construction turning to lean model and demands for small excavators up amid the recession

With the continued improvement of Chinas infrastructural construction, the domestic construction model has gradually turned from bold model to lean model, and small construction machinery enjoys a promising prospect.

At present, such programs as new countryside reconstruction, urban expansion, and irrigation and farmland reconstruction, etc. are under orderly progress. These construction sites have such common characteristics as narrow field and small maneuverability. As a result, medium-and-large-sized excavators cannot work at such site, which highlight the advantages of small excavators.

The small excavator features small volume, smart maneuverability, high flexibility and extensive applicability, and is perfectly suitable for such operation as channel excavation, foundation construction, and housing maintenance, etc. With the Chinas urbanization rate hitting 51.27%, the urban municipal construction turns to the direction of lean model, which brings great potential to small excavators. Most small excavators are of small turning radius and tailless type, and such design provides small excavators with special maneuverability in the narrow construction space.

Versatile small excavators help people become rich

After being installed with various auxiliary tools, the small excavator can realize multifunctional operation. For example, it can fill grooves and conduct leveling compaction after being installed with roller and plate compactor; conduct light-weight dismantling operation with quartering hammer and hydraulic plier; conduct drilling with rotary drill; and conduct hoisting operation with hook. In addition, the small excavator has high return on investment. With low price and quick cost recovery, the small excavator is the first choice of many freshmen in the excavation industry.

YC13 small excavator of Yuchai Heavy Industry Company Limited (YHI)

Taking the YC13 small excavator of Yuchai Heavy Industry Company Limited (YHI) for example, a piggery in Taicang of Jiangsu bought a YC13-8 small excavator at the beginning, and the manager told YHIs service staffs that, the main work of this YC13-8 small excavator is to mix pig manure and soil, and dig methane tank, ditches, and pigsty, etc. It has helped a lot in saving working time and done the work of more than 20 men. In addition, the small excavator can do such work as city planning and housing reconstruction, but large excavators cannot do the work as they are too large to reach the site. Moreover, it can help remove street garbage and clean housing foundation gravels, bringing good income. Therefrom, we can see that the small excavator has become a right hand helping people become rich.

Not only have domestic excavator manufacturers gradually realized the role of small excavators in urban and rural development, the well-known Caterpillar has also invested in establishing Caterpillar (Wujiang) Co., Ltd. in Wujiang. With the total investment of US$ 48 million and registered capital of US$ 22 million, the phase II project is expected to turn out 15,000 small hydraulic excavators per year after being put into production.

With the promotion of national urbanization in past years and the development of municipal works and rural irrigation works, the demand for small excavators will increase day by day, and small excavators will embrace a surely promising prospect.

(Data source: HC Construction Machinery Website by Xiaoxiong)