EKA -loader

When coming to 60's there was seeing a new type of loading a gravel to the trucks and tractor trailers. Old muscle type of loading was going to the end and hydraulic loaders were the coming standard. First bucket loaders were based to original farm tractors with upside down differential gears wich make them normal forward speed going backwards. Also there was turned driving direction and loader arms moved up and down just beside driver. 3-point linkage was dropped off.

Very first of these type of loaders were based to swedish built Bolinder Munktell Volvo tractors and after Fordson's units. Beside of these Kesko Ltd offered a Nuffield based machine called EKA. It was design and manufacture by Trade name EKA.
Foremost unit was using Nuffield 4DM tractor and then changed to the 460 and so on. When name changed to the Leyland, the markets for this type of tractors were dropping and "real" loaders were coming, and they were really better with their torqueamplifiers etc. EKA manufactured very few Leyland based units.

Number of manufactured units is over 200. Here can be still found lot of working tractors, so that tell's as how durable Nuffield is for this kind of working.

Technical data

Basic tractor:
Nuffield 4DM, 460 or 10/60, later 4 cyl. Leyland tractor models.
Normal gearbox, 5 to reverse 1 forward. Upside down turned differential gear.
Also equipped with:
Hydraulic steering assistent
Front pump with detachable clutch for winter starts
Counterweight
Front tank

Loader:
Volume of gravel shovel: 630 l.
Free emptying height: 2,40 m
breakout force: 2400 Kg
Lifting force: 1800 Kg
Working weight (with tractor): 4.1 tons.
Lifting speed from ground to the up: 6 sekuntia.
Later models fitted with parallel rods.

Photos from Nuffield - Leyland Club Finland members. Please ask permission to share these photographs.