“Long live the backhoe,” and all hail the Construction King.
That was the word from Case Construction Equipment as it announced the return of its iconic Construction King name along with five new backhoe loader models for the North American market at a March 8 media event in advance of ConExpo-Con/Agg, North America’s largest construction trade show.
Two models will be available immediately: the Case Utility Plus and the Case 580SV Construction King center pivot. Three additional models will arrive at dealers later in 2023: the Case 580SV Construction King side shift, and two Case 695SV Construction King models — one with center pivot and one with side shift. Each of the existing N Series backhoe models will also carry the Construction King name.
Despite the decline in backhoe sales over the years, Case says it is expanding its product line due to shifts company executives are seeing in the marketplace.
“Backoes are experiencing a renaissance. With the labor challenges our industry faces today, it makes great business sense again that business would own a single asset that can perform multiple functions versus multiple machines that require individual operation by individual operators,” Brad Stemper, North American construction equipment product management lead for Case, told attendees.
While the official launch of Case’s new Utility Plus backhoe loader took place at ConExpo, the Equipment World team got a first look at the cost-conscious model at the ARA Show in Orlando, Florida, in February. (Check out this video of our preliminary overview of the machine.)
