Heavy machinery giant JCB has announced plans to begin production of its new six cylinder engine, the 7.2-litre Dieselmax 672 following an investment of $74.4 million into the project.
In just over eight years, JCB has gone from engine manufacturing newbie to major global producer, having churned out more than 250,000 engines worldwide so far.
JCB Chairman Sir Anthony Bamford adds more than 70 per cent of its machines today are powered by JCB engines.
“The move into six cylinder engine production is a historic moment for our business and a natural step to take and we look forward to setting new standards in performance and fuel efficiency.”
The JCB Dieselmax 672 is based on the company’s four cylinder 4.8-litre Dieselmax engine, with a high degree of parts commonality across the two engine platforms.
According to JCB, the original Dieselmax engine features electronic control, Delphi common rail fuel injection and fixed geometry turbocharging that has clocked in more than 20,000 hours around the world in its eight years of production.
The new Dieselmax 672 will be produced initially to meet Stage II (Tier 4) emissions standards, for growth markets including Russia, Brazil and China.
The engine will be first featured in JCB’s JS360 crawler excavator for the territories mentioned, but will be used in other machines eventually.
The six cylinder engine will be offered with ratings of 140kW (188hp), 165kW (221hp), 190kW (255hp) and 225kW (302hp). Maximum torque is 1,200Nm.
JCB adds the Dieselmax 672 will also offer customers an 8 per cent increase in fuel efficiency compared to previous engines in the JS excavator line. The company says the engine has recorded a specific fuel consumption of just 189g/kWh while also delivering in terms of performance and response.
The engine will be built on a dedicated line at JCB Power Systems’ modern purpose-built facility in Foston, Derbyshire UK.
In development for more than two years, the engines have already completed more than 50,000 hours of testing, 30,000 of which have been in machines working in the field.
JCB Power Systems Director of Engine Programmes Allan Tolley says the new product is the ultimate expression of the Dieselmax engine design philosophy.
“Through the use of innovative engine design and technological development we have produced a reliable, highly durable and incredibly fuel efficient engine, that will go on to power our larger equipment in many markets around the world.”
JCB says its Dieselmax engines have 500 hour service intervals which maintain low operating costs and maximum uptime for customers.
On top of installation into JCB machinery, the engines will also be offered as part of the company’s OEM product line, for use in non-JCB machinery.
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