The Poclain 1000 was once the largest production hydraulic excavator in the world, with the final 1000CK model weighing up to 190 tons. This model, was in production from 1975 until 1984 and the machine was capable of handling buckets up to 17m3 (22 cu yds). It was available in face shovel or backhoe guises. 
The machine seen in the video had spent most of its working life in Spain, but was purchased for preservation in 2000, and was almost certainly saved from a sad death at the hands of the scrap man’s “gas axe”. It was then returned to France to join many other Poclain models which are in the course of being restored to their former glory. In the video, you will notice that the machines cab is currently missing, this is likely to be the last piece of the jigsaw and the team are in the process of restoring the cab and all the trim associated with it. Without further ado let’s hear the roar of those V12 engines and see this classic excavator in action once more.
