Since 1994, IHI Compact Excavator Sales has been distributing high quality equipment throughout North and South America. Family owned and operated by Mike and Markie Smith, the company has always prided itself on outstanding service, quality, and customer satisfaction for over 20 years. Compact Excavator Sales located in central Kentucky has been the largest distributor for the IHI Equipment Brand. Whether it has been supplying Crawler Carriers to the oil & gas industry or Mini Excavators, Skid Steers, Track Loaders, and Concrete Buggies to the rental industry; Compact Excavator Sales has developed a reputation for expertise, integrity and unparalleled customer service with end users through their dealer network.
IHI Construction Machinery Limited, the former supplier of Machinery for Compact Excavator Sales, was acquired by Japanese Equipment Manufacturing Company, KATO Works, in November of 2016. KATO Works has been in the equipment manufacturing business in Japan since 1895. The company produces large construction equipment including;
- large hydraulic excavators with weights ranging from 16,000-101,000 lbs.
- rough terrain cranes
- all-terrain cranes
- boring trucks
- street sweepers
- wheeled cranes.

“All-in-all, there couldn’t have been a better pairing between IHI and KATO Works”, Says Compact Excavator Sales Owner Mike Smith. IHI produced compact sized equipment along with tracked-crawler dump trucks, and rubber track cranes making it the perfect match for the full line of large construction equipment that KATO Works currently produces today. With the acquisition of IHI Construction Machinery Limited (A small division of IHI) by KATO Works, CES, or Compact Excavator Sales will now partner with The KATO Group to distribute mini excavators, compact track loaders, rubber tired skid-steers, and crawler carriers to North and South America. Kimiyasu Kato, president of KATO Works released a statement on the outlook of the new partnership between KATO and Compact Excavator Sales saying, “There is no doubt the North American Market is one of the most important markets for our group, together, KATO Works and CES will aim to increase and expand our Sales in the US by combining our resources.”
Compact Excavator Sales is very excited for future endeavors with our new business partner. The updated manufacturing facilities and technology that the KATO group has will not only help increase the overall customer experience, but will also allow CES to expand their footprint throughout North and South America.