TradeEarthmovers.com.au 33asked for an hour or so to get used to the
little machine.
One hour later and before anyone had turned up
to see the demonstration I had bought the first
suitable mini digger in the country. So impressed
was I with the blade and the potential of the
machine I ordered the first articulated swing
boom mini excavator and promptly added that
to my fleet as well.
Those were heady years, the ‘80s, and one
could not help but make money if you were
prepared to take a punt and I certainly did that.
I advertised for operators and good ones were
as scarce as a one ended stick at that time, when
a young bloke popped into my yard.
Percy Howarth, a young aspiring operator
from Orange who held a passion for diggers
and fast cars, got a crank up from me and it is
here where we pick up the story of the Volvo
ECR35D mini excavator.
Howarth worked for me for many years and
became a very competent excavator operator.
Fast forward 40 years and I caught up with
Howarth, who now runs his own business in his
home town of Orange NSW and specialises in
mini excavating equipment.
His company, Little Diggers, has afirmfoothold
in the Orange region and is in highdemandfor
his expertise and services with hisfleetofsmall
equipment specifically purchasedtocoverthe
market suited to the extra small machinesfor
those tight to get to places.
In that fleet he has a brand new S450Bobcat
skid steer, a couple of small tippersandcouple
of diggers, namely an E10SR New Hollandmini
digger and the near new Volvo ECR35Dmini
excavator.WALKAROUND
I found Howarth, working tirelessly, in a very
dusty paddock installing a couple of kilometres of
poly line to assist the drought stricken farmers to
transfer water, just outside of Orange.
He had the little Volvo humming when I pulled
up and it was an effort to convince him to stop
whilst I took the compulsory photos for my shoot.
Nice and straight panels with maybe the best
positioned blade I have seen on a little digger
for a while, the machine appeared slightly too
compact for me personally but Howarth says
he has no problem in accessing the cab on this
very popular machine.This style ensures
everything has to
be engineered into
a smaller, tighter
compartment.NEW MACHINERY REVIEW
Opposite: At just over 3t in
weight and with a dig depth
of over 3m, this machine
meets the needs of the small
machine operator with ease
Above: The Volvo ECR35D
mini excavator has a three-
cylinder, 31hp (22.8kW) Volvo
D1.8A diesel engine. The fan
unfortunately sucks dust in
through the front, depositing
it all over the engine.at TradeEarthmovers.com.auWATCH THE VIDEO