Northern Ireland's NC launches 1 t dumper

The new model is a high lift unit powered by an 18 kW Kubota D1105 diesel engine. Its maximum safe load is 1000 kg and capacities are 505 l (heaped), 405 l (struck) and 300 l (water). The machine is priced at around £10500.

Norman Nicholl, a director at Armagh-based NC Engineering, told IRN that the company was next looking at a 3 or 4 t model to fill the gap between its 6 and 9 t units. This planned unit, he said, was a machine that had been requested in particular by a Spanish dealer for sale in Latin America.

NC has been in existence for over 30 years, starting as a manufacturer of agricultural equipment - which is still makes - but entering the dumper market three or four years ago.

Mr Nicholl said that although markets were down, it was the smaller dumpers where demand was holding up best and that NC was "still selling a reasonable number". The market in the Republic of Ireland, however, has collapsed; "We're not selling a lot down south right now."