Innovation costs Rusch Special Products dear

Rusch Special Products has ceased operation with immediate effect. This magazine has followed the innovation efforts of this company with great interest over the last few years. It, and its owner Ruud Scheijer, was never afraid to push the boundaries when it came to its demolition equipment. Its first effort was a 65 m (214 ft) high reach for Dutch contractor Beelen Sloopwerken at a time when +40 m (130 ft) was considered the maximum height feasible for such equipment. This was followed by its monster 90 m (295 ft) telescopic effort for Euro Demolition.

The company then went on to develop its own concept, without an end user signed up, which resulted in what it called the RS 4500, a modular machine that could carry three different booms to give telescopic high reach, four section articulated boom and a standard dig boom. D&Ri visited on more than one occasion while the machine was under development and was more than impressed, as past pages of this magazine attest.

Unfortunately today’s current economic conditions, perhaps allied to an inherent conservatism in the European demolition industry, have resulted in Rusch being unable to either sell or lease the RS 4500. The high cost of developing the machine has placed the company in an untenable financial position and it has had to cease trading with immediate effect. The heavy equipment end of the demolition business has surely lost one of its more innovative players.