This 20-tonne excavator has been developed specifically for customers in the Italian Alps.

It has the same performance, capabilities and fuel economy as the conventional SK210LC-10 model but also benefits from a super-narrow undercarriage, which offers a number of additional advantages to our customers in the Alpine region.

Kobelco (re-)entered the Italian market with four new dealers in 2016 and has seen a steady growth in demand. It now has 12 dealers across the country. There is also demand for super-narrow machines that can operate in urban and mountainous areas.

With this in mind, the SK210SNLC-10 has been designed with a transport width of 2,540 mm (reduced from 2,710 mm) and a shoe width of 500 mm to meet Italy’s transportation regulations. To accommodate these size reductions, the right side of the machine has been made shorter. The capacities of the tool box and the Adblue tank (34 litres) have also been adjusted accordingly.

 In addition, the engine and its exhaust gas after treatment equipment have been relocated 30mm to the right hand side resulting in a redesign of the rear right door. The boom foot area has been relocated outside the centre of the machine. The dimensions and features of the cabin, however, remain the same as the conventional model.

Despite its narrower size, the SK210SNLC-10 – which is available with mono-boom and two-piece boom configurations – has the same performance characteristics as the conventional SK210LC-10 and the narrow-version (as opposed to super-narrow) SK210NLC-10 models.

As the working environment in and around the mountainous Alpine region is particularly challenging, operator comfort and safety also remained high on Kobelco’s agenda in the design of the SK210SNLC-10.

The new structural design has increased strength and durability and the attachment has been reinforced to handle a higher work volume with greater power.

Kobelco product marketing manager Peter Stuijt says: “Italy and the surrounding region is a really important and growing market for Kobelco, so it is important for us to listen to our dealers and customers and understand where there are potential challenges with construction machinery.

“The Italian transportation regulations combined with the characteristics of the mountainous Alps region led us to launch the super-narrow SK210SNLC-10. Despite its narrower characteristics, the performance and capabilities of this machine is equal to its respective conventional version, which makes this machine a highly attractive proposition to our customers operating in the Alpine region.”  

Following the introduction of the SK210SNLC-10, a heavier SK240SN-10 is also expected to arrive in Europe from Japan later this year.

In the absence of any site photos of the skinny 210 in action, here is some footage of the conventional SK210LC-10 at work in Norway.