The loader has strong mobility and a wide range of applications. It is widely used in industrial, port, mining and other fields.
Chinese loader has grown from nothing, and it has developed into the world’s largest loader production country. It can be said that it has created a miracle. Let’s review the development history of loaders in our country.
The first generation of loaders from scratch in the 1960s
The earliest loader in my country should be the Z1-4 crawler loader.
After that, the 2T loader Z420 of Chenggong and the 3.5 ton loader Z435 of Xiamen Industrial were also produced.
In 1963, Japan exhibited a wheel loader in my country.
After that, Tiangong Institute began to survey, map and develop, and then transferred the technology to Liugong. Liugong manufactured my country’s first wheel loader Z435 in 1966.
The second generation of loaders, the four key enterprises in the 1970s
In 1978, Tiangong Institute designated my country’s wheel loader series standard based on Liugong Z450. Z stands for loader, and L replaces 4, that is, Z450 is changed to ZL50.
Since then, my country’s wheel loaders have begun to contend and develop together. The four little dragons of the planned economy era appeared.
Liugong and Xiagong manufacture ZL40 and above medium and large loaders. Chenggong, Yigong manufactures small and medium-sized wheel loaders of ZL30 and below.
Under this kind of planning, four key enterprises of Liugong, Xiamen, Chenggong and Yigong have been formed.
1977 Chenggong ZL20 and ZL30.
The third-generation loader 1980s, the technology introduction and take-off stage
Time came to the 1980s, which was a milestone development for loaders.
During this period, Caterpillar in the United States made a huge contribution to China’s loaders, and of course Caterpillar also received huge market returns in China.
In 1985, the former State Planning Commission initiated the project, and the Ministry of Machinery Industry organized 12 state-owned enterprises to contact Caterpillar in the United States, Komatsu in Japan, and Liebherr in Germany to discuss the joint introduction of advanced construction machinery manufacturing technology. .
After more than a year of negotiation, China officially signed a technology transfer contract with the international giant American Caterpillar at the end of 1986.
Among them, Fujian Xiagong, Guangxi Liugong and Jiangxi Yigong introduced loader technology; Qinghai Construction Machinery Factory, Hebei Xuangong, Anshan No. 1 Industrial introduced bulldozer technology; Harbin Tractor Factory introduced skidder technology; Shanghai Diesel Engine Factory introduced engine technology ;Chengdu Construction Machinery Factory introduced torque converter (hydraulic parts) technology; Sichuan Gear Factory introduced power shift gearbox technology; Shantui and Hubei Xianning Construction Machinery Factory introduced sealed crawler technology. (Later Machinery Finance will write an article about this history, please pay attention to the public account)
In this joint introduction, the original machinery department coordinated the entire process of technology introduction, digestion and absorption of construction machinery products, and classified the main engine products and key components according to design, technology, tooling, standards, testing, and complete machine testing. absorb.
In this regard, China’s construction machinery industry began a 10-year-long Western learning.
After ten years of hard work, the original four little dragons of loaders have developed by leaps and bounds, and they have all traveled their own product lines.
The fourth generation loader catches up and surpasses
In any field, the more open it is, the more progressive it is. China’s construction machinery industry has a very high degree of openness. In the 1990s, domestic loader companies and foreign giants competed on almost the same platform, with no subsidies and no barriers.
Under this open competition, the appearance of the four little dragons has changed. In addition to Liugong’s frequent appearances on the international stage, Yigong has changed hands several times and almost disappeared. Xia Gong also married AVIC. Chenggong also became a Kobelco holding company.
However, the competition did not bring down the loader industry. On the contrary, the loader companies became more and more brave, and many world-class companies emerged, which can compete with Caterpillar and Komatsu in terms of sales and technology.
Such as rising stars, Lingong, Longgong, Xugong and Shangong performed well in this period. In the loader market have a certain share.
Postscript
The loader market in my country is about 150,000 to 200,000 units. The market is huge and the competition is fierce.
As far as technology is concerned, leading companies are entering the world’s first echelon.
Post time: Sep-12-2022
