THE first CASE CX85E midi-excavator in the UK has been snapped up by Harbour Lights Campsite, after the site’s owner Jason Attwood sat in the machine at ScotPlant 2024.

Harbour Lights is a family-run camping and holiday home site in Haverigg, on the south-west tip of the Lake District.

Supplied by CASE dealer Dennis Barnfield, the CX85E has been equipped with an engcon EC209 tiltrotator by J Hull Engineers and a Trimble 2D machine guidance system.

Harbour Lights plans to construct an additional 100 static home plots over the next four years. The concrete bases for these plots will be built using the CX85E. The machine will also be used to further landscape the site, which has a number of small lakes and water features.

This is the first CASE machine bought by Mr Attwood, prompted by the close proximity of Dennis Barnfield’s Lancashire base, along with the comfort in the cab. One feature that stood out was the CX85E’s standard ability to control the tracks using one of the servo levers, rather than having to operate foot pedals or track levers.

“The joystick tracking was a big feature for us, as this is a big site to move around,” said Mr Attwood. “I went to ScotPlant earlier in the year to look at some other machinery, but when I sat in the CASE machine, I thought how well it was laid out and how nice it was to sit in.”

All CASE compact excavators have a zero or reduced tailswing design and the standard CX85E can turn within the width of its tracks. However, to allow the excavator to operate with the tiltrotator and the standard long dipper arm, Dennis Barnfield has supplied the machine with the heavier of two optional additional counterweight sections. While this does extend slightly beyond the rubber tracks, the benefits in stability and lifting capability are said to ‘more than make up’ for the additional swing radius.

The machine has also been equipped with a full range of auxiliary piping, to power the tiltrotator and other attachments. It has been personalised with a darker privacy glazing.

The CX85E tips the scales at around 8.8-tonnes and is part of a new range of E-Series midi models. It comes as standard with a centre-mounted monoboom and dozer blade.

The machine is powered by a Stage V diesel engine developing 53.7kW (73hp). This drives an eHPQ Rexroth electronic pump hydraulic system.