Sumitomo

Sumitomo Construction Machinery began in 1963 with the establishment of the Construction Machinery Division of Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd. In the United States they are heavily associated with Link-Belt. In 1964 they began selling mechanical truck cranes and excavators under the brand SUMITOMO-Link Belt, an association which would cause the two brand names to be closely associated.

It was in 1967 that they entered the hydraulic excavator market, followed by hydraulic cranes in 1970. By 1976 they were exporting hydraulic excavators to the United States. In 1986, Link Belt Construction Equipment Company spun off from Sumitomo for full scale entry into the United States market.

Through the years, Sumitomo established working relationship with other well-known equipment companies such as CASE and JCB. Their machine line up, currently sold through Link-Belt Excavators (LBX) include hydraulic excavators and specialized equipment for industries such as forestry, demolition, and material handling.