3D grade control is getting a lower-cost entry point. @TrimbleCorpNews new Earthworks configuration uses dual DA2 GNSS receivers to bring 3D machine control to cost-conscious excavator owners, with subscription pricing designed to reduce upfront costs.
KOBELCO’s new SK650DLC-11 demolition excavator weighs up to 178,100 pounds, reaches nearly 93 feet, and handles tools up to 13,450 pounds. Four front configurations, a tilting cab, and a retractable undercarriage help it tear through big demo jobs. #baddass
🚛 Volvo is going heavy with its all-new VNX vocational truck. The VNX delivers up to 540 hp, 1,950 lb.-ft. of torque, an 86,000-lb. GVWR, and a 200,000-lb. GCWR for construction, heavy haul, logging, and other severe-duty work.
Switching attachments changes more than the job your machine can do. It can change visibility, stability, hydraulics, and the machine’s operating footprint. Before you go to work:
🔧 Verify the connection
👀 Check sight lines
💧 Inspect hoses
⚠️ Know the attachment’s limits
Sage Mfg. is betting big on growth:
• New 20-acre headquarters in Amarillo
• $21 million investment
• Sage Oil Vac + Amarillo Tanks under one parent company
• New Amarillo Upfitters venture targeting custom vocational trucks
That’s a pretty serious expansion.
Motor grader maintenance is about more than fluids and filters. ⚙️ Watch tire pressure, cutting-edge wear, circle play, machine balance, hydraulic lines, and service intervals. And don’t skip the daily walkaround — small problems have a habit of becoming expensive ones.
High equipment costs are often a symptom. Attack the causes. Fleet managers should focus on three big ones:
• Utilization
• Reliability
• Fleet age
Get those right, and you can control owning and operating costs before they become problems.
Construction equipment rental keeps growing:
• U.S. rental revenue to hit $83.5 billion in 2026
• Specialty rental is outpacing traditional equipment rental
• United, Sunbelt, and Herc could spend about $9.5 billion combined on rental iron
• Mega projects are driving demand
Mini track loaders! Cat, Deere, Case, New Holland, Wacker Neuson — and now Manitou and Gehl are piling into one of equipment’s hottest categories. The new 1,050-pound ROC machines bring:
⚙️ Automatic track tensioning
💪 23.2 horsepower
🐌 Creep mode
🧰 Lots of attachment options
Yanmar spent years expanding its compact equipment lineup. Now it’s focusing on what happens after the sale. 🛠️
📍 Upgraded SmartAssist Remote telematics
⏱️ 5 years included on eligible new machines
🔧 Maintenance + diagnostic data
🛡️ Ycare extended warranties
Before wheel loaders bent in the middle, they were built a little differently. 👀 In the 1950s, rigid-frame loaders ruled — and a handful of manufacturers built some seriously big machines. Then articulation changed everything. Let’s check out the giants that came before it. 👇
Kwest Group put AI to work finding hidden costs, improving invoice coding, and giving field crews faster access to fleet information. Add benchmarking and 21,000 hours of craft training, and you can see why the contractor is a three-time Fleet Masters winner.
Volvo Construction Equipment just gave its L30 and L35 compact wheel loaders their biggest frame redesign since the machines debuted in 1998. 👀 A redesigned rear frame, easier mounting for rear equipment, high-flow hydraulics, improved service access, and an updated cab. 👇
⛏️ Volvo Mining starts on Jan. 1, bringing Volvo CE's loaders, haulers, trucks, engines, and autonomous tech under a more focused strategy. But if Volvo wants to challenge Cat and Komatsu, there are still some big holes in the lineup. Will Volvo go shopping? 👀

ALT This image shows an aerial view of a snowy quarry site. Various yellow construction vehicles, including excavators, dump trucks, and loaders, are actively working amidst piles of snow and rocks. There are also several conveyor belts, a few small buildings, and scattered personnel clad in safety gear.
A few psi could be costing your fleet real money. A @continentaltire study found proper tire pressure can deliver:
⛽ Better fuel economy
📈 Up to a 0.62-mpg improvement in the study
💵 About $1,718 in annual fuel savings per truck
🚚 Nearly $172,000 across a 100-truck fleet
6 backhoe trends shaping today’s machines:
🔧 More attachments and versatility
🤖 Smarter controls and automation
↔️ Growing interest in side-shift designs
🖥️ Better cabs, cameras, and grade tech
🛣️ Road speeds pushing toward 30 mph
⚡ Electric and hydrogen development
🌳 Three-inch trees vs. a mini skid steer? Bring it on. Ignite’s new 44-inch Mini Brush Cutter tackles brush and small trees up to 3 inches in diameter. It also fits both CII and mini Bob-Tach carriers. Small machine. Serious vegetation management.
🚧 @BOMAG gives its RS 650-2 recycler/stabilizer a serious operator upgrade. A quieter cab, 7-inch touchscreen, 360-degree camera coverage, sliding operator station, and 653 horsepower headline the updates. Let’s climb aboard.
Yanmar just went big on CTLs. Six new mid- and large-frame machines bring the lineup to 9 models:
💪 Up to 103.5 horsepower
🏋️ Up to 4,100 pounds ROC
💦 Up to 41 gpm auxiliary flow
🌲 Two forestry models
🛞 ASV Posi-Track undercarriages across the lineup
Here’s the new iron.



















































