Kobelco has given its SK135SR-3 excavator a big six-way power and tilt blade, effectively giving the 16-tonne digger the abilities of a 90-horsepower dozer. It’s called the ED160 Blade Runner.
The Japanese company says the hybrid earthmover can be used anywhere an excavator or bulldozer would be deployed, such as cutting forest roads and associated drainage work, or stripping vegetation prior to digging trenches and laying pipes.
The ED160 Blade Runner can be used on a very wide range of jobs from powerful digging to fine grading, which Kobelco sales and service general manager Doug McQuinn says will result in major cost savings for customers across the board.
“As a company, Kobleco’s focus has always been on helping our customers get their job done efficiently, safely and economically,” McQuinn says. “With this innovative machine we’re ultimately delivering two powerful machines in one.
“The ED160 Blade Runner will do the same job an excavator and a dozer would do individually but with one machine. There are also savings in transporting only one machine to the job site.”
The machine is also powerful, he adds, with its undercarriage uses components from a 20-tonne excavator to provide the 145kN of drawbar pulling force needed to push the larger blade.
Features of the mid-size SK135SR-3 include an offset boom, an iNDr noise and dust reduction system, and a Tier 4a engine for lower fuel consumption.
The ROPS cab is big and roomy, with wide doors, good head clearance and visibility, and a powerful automatic air conditioner. There are rearview mirrors on the left, right and lower right, and a rearview camera comes as standard.
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