Innovative Iron Award: Terex TLB840R Backhoe Loader
Exploration is the engine that drives innovation, so let’s go exploring. Let’s search through a year’s worth of creative ideas in the off-highway equipment industry and see if we can benchmark the innovative exploration of the American machine market. Over the last 12 months, global manufacturers from Caterpillar to Kubota have released compact machines that have set new standards for power, versatility, efficiency and design. Our editors have traveled across the globe to meet these manufacturers, operate their new products and give detailed reports and opinions both in print and on our website (compactequip.com). We sifted through the hundreds of models and brands released in 2015 and picked 19 units that set the bar for innovation. With this article, we salute those companies (from Komatsu to Case) that have changed the commercial equipment market over the last year with their unique, interesting and innovative machines, engines and technologies.
The Terex TLB840R Is Built to Be Borrowed and Make Money
Let’s just do the numbers. More than 27,000 backhoe loaders are sold in the Americas (North America and Latin America) each year. Rental backhoe loaders represent just over 20,000 of those units. In the past, competitive rental rates (averaging between $1,300 to $2,000 per month) have lowered the overall demand for fully spec’d backhoe loaders. For example: 60 percent utilization of a fully spec’d backhoe with a rate of $1,650 per month totals $11,880 annually. It would take a rental house more than six years to pay for a $72,000 backhoe loader — assuming no major expenses. The rental market asked for an affordably priced backhoe loader (mid-$50,000). With the TLB840R, Terex removed more than $20,000 from the cost of its fully spec’d backhoe loader to achieve a rental-ready backhoe loader model, priced to be paid for in less than four years.
To see the rest of Compact Equipment’s Innovative Iron Awards, click this link.
