This year’s Hillhead – held from 25–27 June at Tarmac’s Hillhead Quarry, near Buxton, Derbyshire – proved to be a huge success on all counts, underlying its status as the UK’s (and perhaps even the world’s) biggest live demonstration trade show for the quarrying, construction and recycling industries. Building on the momentum of the hugely successful 2022 exhibition, Hillhead 2024 was the most visited edition ever with 26,626 visitors attending over the three show days.

In terms of unique visitors, with 19,577 attendees from 67 countries (+6.2% compared with 2022) this year’s edition had the second highest ever number of trade visitors (only 2018 was higher at 19,753). Hillhead 2024 also recorded the event’s busiest ever show day in its 42 year history, with almost 10,800 visitors attending on day two. Commenting on this year’s show, event director Richard Bradbury said: ‘With the sun shining and visitors spending more time at the show than ever before, it was fantastic to see Hillhead continuing to break new attendance records. It’s an exciting time for the industry as digitalisation, automation, and decarbonisation continue to drive change within the quarrying, construction, and recycling sectors, and this was represented by the scale and quality of the 600 or so companies that exhibited.”

 

The recycling demonstration area 

The major USP for Hillhead has always been the excellent demonstrations of equipment along the quarry wall.  This has traditionally been of screens, crushers, excavators and loading shovels etc for the aggregates industry. In latter years however, the Hillhead organisers have established the Recycling Demonstration Area which attracts crowds to the south end of the site. Here construction and demolition waste are imported on to the site to feed a range of specialist crushers, shredders and screens. Alongside this, a selection of excavators, wheeled loading shovels, site dumpers, breakers and screening buckets were also shown in action. The 2024 demonstrations included equipment by  Barford, Doyle Machinery, Dustquip, Engcon, Herbst, JCB, Keestrack and LiuGong. 

 

Demolition and recycling exhibitors

Many of the exhibitors at Hillhead are very familiar to the readers of PDi and have featured many times in the pages of the magazine. In the coming sections, the recycling and demolition exhibitors are broken down by the sectors they cover.  All in all, the companies exhibited a plethora of solutions that showed just how important Hillhead is now to the international demolition and recycling industries 

 

Screening and crushing

The Astec stand showed examples of its crushing and screening, washing and classifying, material handling, asphalt, concrete, road surfacing, forestry and environmental recycling and digital solutions. The company showcased Astec’s technology to its global audience, including tracked mounted and modular jaws, impactors and cone crushers, scalpers and finishing screens, as well as products from the material handling and washing divisions. CAMS also took advantage of the show to show its latest developments for the recycling of aggregates, asphalt, rubble and other waste materials.

EvoQuip, the manufacturer of compact crushing, screening, and conveying equipment for construction, demolition and recycling, highlighted its machinery mobility and efficiency that enables customers to tackle projects with ease while minimising environmental impact. The highlight of the show for was live working demonstrations of the brand new ‘Bison’ 220R jaw crusher and the exhibiting of the ‘Caiman’ 150 shredder. Gipo’s UK dealer, Agg-Pro, has been providing crushing, screening, washing and recycling equipment to customers for more than 25 years, placing an emphasis on customer service. The company, not traditionally known as a supplier to the demolition and recycling industries, exhibited leading edge solutions that are not only suitable for aggregate production in quarries, but also increasingly utilised in the processing of demolition materials.

McCloskey International exhibited and demonstrated some its range of mobile crushers, screeners, stackers, trommels, and washing systems. Amongst the equipment on display was the company’s latest impact crusher which has been designed for superior crushing power and efficiency. Examples of electric models with reduced operational costs were also show. McCloskey also demonstrated a selection of its solutions at the quarrying part of the exhibition.

Portafill marked its return to Hillhead  with two machines, the MR-5X compact scalping unit and the MC-8R midsize cone crusher. The MR-5X has a 3m x 1.2m variable throw screen box and features a patented screen raise feature and a ‘two in one’ oversize conveyor. The MC-8R is a midsize hydraulic cone that can accept feed material up to 160mm. The hanging screen and closed loop system can be used on the Portafill jaw and impactor range. Another manufacturer of more compact equipment, Rubblemaster, aimed to show that its crushers and screens come in a variety of sizes for a wide variety of challenges, such as rubble, asphalt and concrete as well as riverbed material, basalt, limestone and granite.

German company SBM showcased its 40t ‘Jawmax’ 450 jaw crusher on the stand as a universal, highly mobile solution for raw materials and recycling. SBM’s live demonstration featured the ‘Remax’ 450 impact crusher (1,260 x 800mm inlet) designed for feed sizes up to 1,000mm. Said to possess a maximum capacity of 450t/h, the plant’s active double deck pre-screen and optional half deck post screen and conveyors are designed to enable a wide range of defined end products to be easily produced in a single pass.

 

Attachments

Along with major representation of screening and crushing companies, the number of attachment manufacturers at Hillhead was astounding, whether direct or through UK distributors.  French company Arden exhibited its excavator buckets along with  demolition and recycling products, clamshell and re-handling grabs, multi-tine grabs and other dedicated hydraulic attachments. BPH Attachments, which specialises in supplying leading excavator attachments, exhibited  Prodem attachments, Augertorque and Berti, as well as selected LaBounty equipment.

Engcon exhibited and demonstrated how to transform an excavator, making it more efficient, profitable and safe, whilst Kemroc showed a selection of its rock cutters for dealing with steel, concrete, rock, wood etc. UK company Miller showcased its ‘GT’ Series quick coupler range for machines from 1-50t alongside the award winning ‘Powerlatch’ quick coupler for machines from 3.5-120t. Rototilt, which has  been manufacturing tiltrotators and attachments for more than 35 years, aimed to show its equipment can transform an excavator creating greater machine versatility and opportunity. MB Crusher showed its grapple and sieve padding bucket at its stand, which was also demonstrated to enable visitors to see firsthand its capabilities. Simex, the producer of hydraulic equipment for earthmoving machinery, aimed to show that its diverse range of products are ideal for such sectors as roads, construction, underground utilities and infrastructures, as well as demolition, quarrying and tunnelling. 

Steelwrist’s global tour ended a stop at Hillhead. Visitors to the Steelwrist stand were able to view the company’s products first hand and discover their new features and how they increase excavator efficiency. In addition to this, Steelwrist tiltrotators were to be found across the large Hillhead area on display with several major OEMs. “It has been an extremely busy period with several successful exhibitions and events conducted by our global Steelwrist team throughout this spring. I am impressed with the dedication and hard work of all our team members that have made it possible for us to execute all these events,” said Karl Serneberg, Steelwrist VP OEM sales & marketing.

 

Dumpers and excavators

If you have attachments or need to get materials to the screens and crushers, you need dumpers and excavators. Marking Bell’s 70th anniversary and 40 years as an articulated dump truck (ADT) manufacturer, Bell Equipment went full throttle at Hillhead 2024 giving pride of place to its new autonomous B40E ADT which took part in live quarry demonstrations. Bobcat also introduced new products at Hillhead 2024 exhibition. These included the TL25.60 telehandler, the T86 compact track loader and the S650 skid steer loader. The stand display also included the T40.180SLP 18m telehandler, the L85 compact wheel loader, the E10z, E27z and E60 mini excavators, T590 and S76 compact loaders and models from the Bobcat portable power, compaction and material handling ranges.  

CASE had a wide array of equipment on display, both static on the stand and working in the exhibition’s demonstration areas. CASE’s focus for Hillhead was on the new CX210E-S tracked excavator, whilst customers looking for a premium wheel loader were excited by the new 651G ‘Evolution’ wheel loader.  Also, on display was the first CASE full electric compact shovel. The battery powered 12EV is set to join the company’s electric mini excavators in a growing zero emission line-up. Komatsu also exhibited a selection of its crawler and wheeled excavators, mini excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders and dump trucks.

 

Drilling

If crushing and screening are the glamour products of demolition, then it’s the drills that are essential. Manufacturers showed their wares at Hillhead including Furukawa Rock Drill (FRD), which has its roots in the development of mining equipment. Indeco UK showcased a selection of products from an extensive catalogue of hydraulic attachments covering a range of sectors from demolition, to recycling, to forestry. Finnish company Lekatech introduced its new electric technology to the UK for the first time.

P&V Padley & Venables  exhibited a selection of its demolition tools for use with most types of boom mounted hydraulic breakers as well as its tools for use with pneumatic and electric hammers, including moil point concrete breakers, chisel ends, asphalt cutters, ‘easibusts’, frost wedges, tarmac cutters, digger steels, clay spades, plugs and feathers, rammer stems and pads etc. These were shown alongside a selection of the company’s products for tunnelling/drifting and extension drilling equipment.

 

Robots

Showing just how much Hillhead has changed, and now caters for demolition and recycling companies, the world’s two giants of demolition robots both exhibited at the show. Husqvarna Construction introduced its new DXR 95, the lightest and most compact demolition robot in its range. The launch adds a fifth model to the company’s diverse range of demolition robots, giving customers a huge productivity boost in confined spaces. Brokk UK exhibited the 170 and 200 alongside several attachments, as well as the ‘Vac Ex’ 120d, a hose management carrier. Aquajet, Brokk’s sister company, exhibited  the ‘Revijey’ 270 road towable pump, along with the 410 robot and ‘Ergo’ system. 

 

Other exhibitors of interest

There were too many exhibitors at Hillhead to cover in this short article, but there were a number of manufacturers who are of interest to readers of PDi. Hydroscand offer a complete range of hydraulic and industrial hoses, fittings, and fluid transfer solutions for the quarrying, construction, and recycling industries, catering for everything from excavators and wheel loaders to crushers, screeners, and shredders. CabCare manufactures vandal and demolition guards for all types of construction, demolition and forestry machinery. All its products are recommended and fitted by all leading machinery manufacturers and are said to offer many advantages compared to other similar solutions.

Frutiger’s MobyDick brand is a solution developed for wheel washing, dust control and de-mucking. As well as being popular with small and medium sized enterprises, users include numerous global corporations such as Vinci, Hochtief, Bilfinger Berger, Strabag, Holcim, Rio Tinto, Tata Steel, ThyssenKrupp, and NATO. OSA Demolition Equipment specialises in manufacturing and designing  technologically advanced equipment using the world’s finest raw materials such as Hardox, pairing these materials with advanced manufacturing techniques. Strickland Tracks showed how the  company continues to expand into new applications, adapting quickly to engineer a solution for any tracked undercarriage requirement, utilising lean principles and advanced business management systems.  

The RM Group, packaging machinery and robotic automation specialists, used Hillhead 2024 to showcase an impressive line-up of fixed/mobile bag filling and palletizing solutions, including bulk bag filling and material handling. The company’s latest mobile packaging system is contained within a 40ft shipping container, with the CTF-600 bag filling system coming complete with an ‘ABB’ robot palletising system, bulk hopper with in-feed conveyor and weighing system. Also on display was the BP-600, a portable bag filling solution, designed to  enable customers to pack at source, thereby reducing operational overheads and minimising environmental impact.

Bradley Pulverizer,  the designer, manufacturer, and supplier of air classifying and pulverising systems for fine and semi fine grinding of hard, friable, and abrasive materials exhibited its pendulum roller mills. These are widely relied upon for uninterrupted production of materials which meet the most demanding specifications for particle size distribution.  Outputs ranging from less than 1 to 150t/h can be adjusted to produce a uniform particle size, ranging from 50% passing 150micron to 100% passing 30microns in a single pass.   

 

Not just quarrying

As can be seen from the array of equipment shown at Hillhead 2024, the show that was once a specialist occasion for the UK and the international quarrying industry, now caters for other industries too. With manufacturers exhibiting equipment specifically for the demolition and recycling industries, Hillhead 2026 should be a show that readers of PDi should not wish to miss.