Excavator Talk Series - The Pros and Cons of SUMITOMO SH210-6 as Reviewed by Operators

SH210-6 is a mainline excavator series by SUMITOMO as a direct upgrade of SH210-5. It has been rated highly by most operators and machine owners consistently. 

In this article, we'll have the operators talk about their user experience and review of SH210-6. Please be aware that this is not professional advice but simply operators sharing their thoughts. For the purpose of sharing, all reviewers will use aliases.

Grett: SH210-6 gave me the impression that it's really fast and it consumes less fuel!

Previously we had a SANY SY205. I think our new SH210-6 outperforms SY205. It seems to have more horsepower when accelerating in a upward slope. SH210-6's arm power beats SANY. I can move boulders that our SANY can't with a grappling hook. Both excavator tank gets filled at the same time. SY205 could only last two and a half day and I could last for 3 days.

You see I worked in a site where the entire place is basically just unstable mud. I remember we needed two excavators to move upslope in this site. The Hyundai excavator had a maybe 15 minutes head start, it only has 5000 operating hours. I went 15 minutes after that guy and was already moving soil for half an hour before the guy could reach the spot. And now they always ask me to get my SH210-6 to the worst spot in the site :(

Eric: We use it to load trucks. It's really fast and even the truck operator's impressed

The pros are it's really fast, saves fuel and just feels easy to operate. The seats also nice and comfy and the monitor has been improved. As for the cons, it feels like the cabin isn't sealed tight. Always had dirt coming in and the horn sometimes acts up isn't as loud as it should be.

It has 270 degree visual assist system made things safer for us. We can switch the camera view on the excavator and the display's really clear. 

We installed our own rear camera (image below). We custom made it ourselves.

Craig: SH210-6 has 3 work modes. SP, H and A modes. 

Use SP (super power) mode when prioritizing speed. It works 4% faster than previous SH210-5 model and when in H (heavy) mode, it burns 14% less fuel. It's really fuel efficient without compromising speed. A (auto) mode is basically all-purpose mode. The fuel efficiency is the main selling point and that's what most buyers look for in a 20ton excavator I think.

Image courtesy and original post by cehome.com