Compact Equipment managing editor Keith Gribbins and marketing manager Tim Richards visited JCB’s North American headquarters in Savannah, Ga., in late February. They spent a day shooting videos and taking photos for CE's upcoming April issue -- a special UTV-focused edition of Compact Equipment. We’ll tease those videos all month on the blog, and we’ll start by teasing a maintenance video on the impressive WORKMAX 800D. John Sketchley, JCB after market development manager, gives us a quick walk-around. Enjoy.

It’s hard not to buy a new machine today that doesn’t have a Tier 4 engine. Each engine manufacturer meets EPA mandated emissions requirements in a unique way – John Deere Power Systems is no different. John Deere is committed to an integrated Tier 4 approach because it actually makes the engines that go into its machines. That’s why its approach to meeting Final Tier 4 emissions regulations allows the company to focus the performance of the engine on its power, efficiency and responsiveness, rather than just emissions compliance. Learn more at www.JohnDeere.com/FT4, by visiting your local John Deere dealer or watching the video below.

Hey, did you know the earth processes air much like a compressor? It’s true. Just watch this excellent video from Doosan Portable Power on how air compressors work. The legacy of Ingersoll Rand continues with Doosan Portable Power as a premier manufacturer of portable air compressors. A range of excellent model options await your inspection – visit them here. To learn more on air compressors in general, watch the video below.

CEAttachments has one of the most expansive product lines of attachments and implements in the industry under its EDGE brand umbrella. The EDGE stump grinder is a gnarly skid steer/track loader attachment that will grind tree stumps into managable spoils. Carbide steel teeth and easy-to-use controls help you to quickly grind stumps into wood chips. Standard and high-flow models are available for skid steer loaders and compact utility tractors. The company just released a new EDGE stump grinder model that has a unique hinged-pivot self-feeding design that offers excellent operator visibility and efficient grinding of stumps up to 30 in. wide and as deep as 10 in. below ground in minutes. To watch an EDGE stump grinder in action, watch the video below.

Safety is crucial when operating any type of construction machinery, but especially when using digging machines like compact excavators. In this Bobcat Company training video, you can learn basic safety rules and instructions for operating compact excavators (also called mini excavators). Although this video contains many valuable guidelines, your operation and maintenance manual is your primary guide for safe operation and maintenance. For more information, visit http://bobcat.com/trainings/home. Enjoy the video below.

When Joe Contractor needs a dedicated digging machine, he turns to an excavator. It’s a tool devoted to putting precise holes in the ground. But what if Joe needs a digging machine that can also quickly travel from jobsite to jobsite? In the past, construction professionals would settle for a less productive digger like a backhoe loader or a tractor with a digging attachment, because wheels increased cycle times over the slow and steady march of an excavator’s dedicated track undercarriage. But today there is another option rarely explored by North American contractors -- the excavator that rolls from job to job using tires.

The wheeled excavator is a niche machine in America, so a lot of contractors don’t even know about these machines. Volvo Construction Equipment has a 16 part series explaining its Volvo C-Series wheeled excavator, and how it should be operated. To watch an intro video, just click play below. To view the rest of the videos, visit Volvo Construction Equipment’s global video site on YouTube.

Over the past year, Bobcat has produced a number of excellent Advantage videos, which showcase Bobcat machines going head-to-head with the competition in a variety of tests and challenges. The idea was to see which machine truly delivers in real applications. Bobcat is now taking its Advantage videos beyond head to head comparisons. The company wants to educate buyers overall on how to evaluate any piece of machinery. Sometimes, says Bobcat, specs on paper don’t always translate to actual performance. So the company has produced a whole line of videos that teach compact equipment buyers how to translate and compare things like specs into real life performance attributes. Just watch this video on compact excavators.   

Doosan Portable Power has successfully completed its global transition to the final Doosan machine branding from its former Ingersoll Rand brand. The transition is complete for its entire line of Doosan Portable Power equipment, including portable air compressors, mobile generators, portable light towers and light compaction equipment.

“We’re proud to display Doosan branding on our complete product line,” said Dave Stahlman, vice president of global marketing for Doosan Portable Power. “Changing brands can be difficult, and we at Doosan Portable Power saw it as an opportunity to re-evaluate our legacy and brand promise and create an even brighter future. Doosan is focused on driving innovation as we continue to build upon a heritage of the most durable and reliable products on the market.”

Doosan Infracore acquired the Ingersoll Rand Utility Equipment business unit from Ingersoll Rand in 2007 to form Doosan Infracore Portable Power. The Ingersoll Rand brand has been in the forefront of technology, design and manufacturing since the early 1900s. Now with the mark of Doosan, the product line will continue to offer best-in-class reliability and durability, highest quality parts and an industry-leading commitment to service and support.

After the acquisition, Doosan Portable Power continued to incorporate Ingersoll Rand into the machine brand for five years. During the transition period, the equipment designed and manufactured at the Doosan Portable Power global headquarters in Statesville, N.C., carried the same signature attributes and was dual-branded to introduce the change to the Doosan brand. Power-Gen International 2011 marked the first public introduction of the final Doosan equipment brand.

For more information on the new Doosan Portable Power brand, watch this short video. For more information about Doosan Portable Power, please visit www.doosanportablepower.com.

Remember that final scene in Aliens, when Ripley battles that alien queen with a robotic construction loader that works simply on the operator’s body movements? If not, just watch it here. Well, the engineers at Raytheon-Sarcos in Salt Lake City have created something similar – for real – demonstrating in the video below a unique set of tele-operated robotic arms attached to a modified Ditch Witch compact tool carrier, reminding us of that awesome futuristic construction tool in James Cameron's classic sci-fi horror flick. This is so awesome.  

Some attachments almost feel as big and powerful as the tool carrier – like the Bobcat wheel saw attachment – which is used to cut through just about anything. Powered by a high-flow Bobcat loader, wheel saw models WS18 and WS24 cut through asphalt, concrete, frozen ground and wire mesh. With trenching depths of 6 to 24 in., depending on the model, these rugged attachments are used for road repair and for laying water, gas, electric and fiber-optic cables. The trench cleaner, which is raised and lowered hydraulically, assures a clean trench. Wheel saws provide a more precise cut than air or hydraulic hammers and are easier to transport than dedicated machines. For more information, visit http://www.bobcat.com/attachments/wheel_saw.