In 2013 Hill supplied Takeuchi with around 150 of its Tefra hydraulic quick coupler units. This year that figure has topped 500 units.

And further growth is expected next year... “With Takeuchi’s strong performance in the excavator market place we fully expect to retail in the region of 700 couplers next year,” says Mike Roby, Hill Engineering’s sales director.

He adds: “This year alone Takeuchi has invested in the region of £700,000 with Hill.  We see this growth continuing as the Takeuchi customer base continues to specify the Tefra more and more due to the increased reliability of the product.”

Takeuchi service manager Kevin McLaren says: “The Hill hitch is proving popular with one very popular UK brand of excavator and that’s Takeuchi. Hill Engineering can’t build them quick enough they are that much in demand.”

Hill also supplies other leading excavator brands, including Hitachi, CAT, JCB and Volvo.

Takeuchi first approached Hill in 2012 in a search for alternative hitch solutions.  “The Tefra was perfectly positioned to offer them the solution they required,” says Mike Roby. “With just three moving parts… it offered their customers a competitive advantage over other products on the market due to the reliability and increased productivity experienced when using the Tefra product.”

As the two companies have developed their working relationship Hill has developed a bespoke fitting solution for Takeuchi machines, as well as new dispatch processes at its factory in Northern Ireland to meet Takeuchi’s aggressive stocking programme.