Sandhill Plant Reflects on a Strong Showing at Hillhead 2026

Hillhead 2026 may be a couple of weeks behind us now, though judging by the weather that's stuck around since, the heat certainly hasn't gone anywhere. As one of the highlights of the year for anyone in the plant world, this year's show at Hillhead Quarry once again brought the entire industry together in one place, and Sandhill Plant was proud to be part of it.

With Sam Mayfield representing Sandhill on the SANY stand, the show was a valuable chance to get in front of customers old and new, talk through the growing SANY range, and see some of the standout machines in the flesh.

One of those was the SANY STR27C-10 roller, a genuinely impressive piece of kit. Backed by SANY's industry-leading 5-year warranty, it delivers peak power at low revs and is built squarely around operator comfort, with best-in-class drum visibility thanks to its narrow frame and fully sliding comfort seat. Key specs include a rated power of 18.5kW at 2,200rpm or 24.6kW at 2,400rpm, an operating weight of 2,700–2,750kg, and a 1,200mm drum width, along with LED work and road lights and the option of double travel levers on the 24.6kW version. Seeing it up close, rather than in a brochure, really underlined why the SANY range is turning heads.

Elsewhere at the show, it was a genuine point of pride to spot a piece of Sandhill out on the wider stands, the Sandhill SANY SY26 supplied to Lynch Plant, taking pride of place on the Engcon stand. Having a machine of ours on display at a show of this scale is exactly the kind of thing that makes an event like Hillhead special.

The show's live demonstration area was another standout. Watching machines put through their paces — including a SANY and a new Komatsu articulated dump truck — is something you rarely get to see in a working sales yard, and it was a real reminder of what these machines can do when they're actually moving dirt.

More than anything, Hillhead 2026 was a reminder of the sheer scale of our industry. Every imaginable sector, from the biggest earthmovers to the smallest attachments, all gathered on one site. For Sandhill Plant, it was a valuable few days of conversations, connections, and a clear look at where the market is heading.

And with Sandhill now a SANY dealer, we'll say only this about the SANY hospitality: the pie and chips were very good indeed. We may be biased. But we may also go back for seconds next time.