EarthForce America, Summerville, S.C., is the marketing headquarters for Superstav in North America. All machines are sold in North America under the EarthForce brand nameKubota Tractor Corp. USA, an American affiliate of Kubota Corp. in Japan, offers two models of mini-backhoe loaders, the B21 and L35. The company is second in the marketplace and imports its machines from Japan. KTC, which started selling machines in the U.S. market in 1972, is headquartered in Torrance, Calif. The company''s B21 machine is rated 21 hp and features hydrostatic drive, while the L35 is rated 35 hp and has a mechanical Glide Shift transmission for clutchless shifting. The bigger machine has a 9 ft. digging depth. Ingersoll Equipment (not to be confused with Ingersoll-Rand Co.) is located in Winneconne, Wis. The company started producing small backhoe loaders in 1983. Current models include 18 hp and 20 hp machines and a larger addition is being discussed for 2001. Both the 6018 BH and 6020 BH loaders have a digging depth of 7.5 ft. and both machines are very light at less than 3000 lb.

When we last looked at mini-backhoe loaders several years ago, the market for these machines was under 4000 units annually, but growing. Today, suppliers are selling over 6000 units and the demand keeps rolling along. The companies involved in mini-backhoes include Terramite, Allmand Brothers, Dig-It, EarthForce, Ingersoll Equipment, Kubota and Waldon. Two companies - Lely, which sold Kioti backhoes and K-D Manitou, the French manufacturer- dropped out of the market in 1999. Terramite is the recognized leader in this product and is the largest producer in the world. The company, founded in 1965, has been a family-owned, global business since its beginning. The Charleston, W.Va., company offers three models - the T5C, T5D and T6. The T5C has been around for 10 years, the T6 was introduced in 1997 and the T5D was just added in 1999. Digging depth on the smaller models is about 8 ft., while the larger T6 has a dig depth of 10 ft.

But mostly we collect books. Touring our area libraries, we are rewarded with a truckload worth of choices. One library has an entire shelf labeled "Transportation." Elated, we bring home Diggers and Dump Trucks; Heavy Equipment: Work Trucks; Mighty Machines; and Construction Zone, their pages wrinkled and much-mended. In his fervor, Riley puts his mark on Mighty Machines, ripping the giant blue excavator right through the bucket. I get out the tape. I''m amused to see how many of these books have been written by women, and I''m pleased that they are, as a whole, informative, fun, and much less sexist than I had imagined. Which is good, because we read them over and over. Laura despairs. But I recall that my mother had to read Captain Kitty to me until she could recite it verbatim, so why should I be spared?

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