JCB is celebrating the release of its millionth backhoe loader and with dual drive now available, the backhoe is continuing to evolve
JCB has released its millionth backhoe loader, a 4CX model, marking the occasion with a bespoke decal designed by London-based artist and illustrator Dave Smith.
With the first backhoe produced in 1953, JCB has developed a machine that has become a bedrock of the earthmoving community, says JCB CEA backhoe sales manager Glenn McLeod.
“There’s really nothing that measures it for versatility,” he says of the backhoe’s ongoing popularity.
“The fact that one machine can dig a trench or use the backhoe for a range of different applications, and then immediately swing the seat around 180 degrees and use the front loader bucket to load and grade and doze and lift materials with forks, there’s really no other machine since the original invention of the backhoe loader that emulates the versatility that this machine has.
“There are excavators, loaders, graders and skid steers, but they’re all job specific or application specific, whereas a loader backhoe is still one of the most versatile machines on the planet.”
Designed initially for post-war reconstruction, as a machine that could complete a host of tasks on site, the concept started as an agricultural tractor with a Major Loader fitted to the front and an excavator arm to the rear.
By 1953, Joseph Cyril Bamford had designed and launched the Mk 1, which developed over time into the Hydra-Digga in 1956 and the more powerful JCB 4 in 1960. Demand for a smaller, more manoeuvrable model would soon lead to the JCB 3, a backhoe loader for the housebuilder, rather than the civil engineer, and a model that would launch plant hire businesses across the world.
In the seven decades since, JCB has continued to develop and evolve the concept, adding longer loader arms, a horizontal ‘side shift’ for the backhoe mounting, the six-in-one front shovel and even a kettle for the operator. Turbocharged engines, powershift transmissions, all-wheel drive, the extending dipper arm and auxiliary hydraulics have seen the humble backhoe loader become a versatile, productive and reliable master-of-all-trades machine.
Dual drive
McLeod says the innovations haven’t stopped there, with dual drive now available on the 3CX Pro and 5CX Pro, which allows the operator seat to be turned around so the operator is facing the rear implement.
“With dual drive on select models of the JCB backhoe, the operator has the capability to be able to drive and steer the machine from the backwards-facing position as well as a forwards-facing position,” he says.
“From a safety, productivity and accuracy point of view, this is a gamechanger. The industry has been calling for this for a long, long time.
“I’ve been in the industry for nearly 40 years, and I’ve heard it consistently that operators want more versatility when they’re looking at the backhoe working position, so this is an exciting development in the history of the machine.”
Since the early days, JCB has realised the benefits and potential of vertical integration, designing and engineering its own components specifically for the backhoe loader and its other equipment lines. Transmissions, axles, hydraulic cylinders and cabs are all sourced internally, more recently being joined by JCB’s award-winning range of low emission diesel engines. The company is currently working on a hydrogen engine, to take the machine into a zero-emission future.
“JCB are well advanced with hydrogen technology and have decided to go down the path of internal combustion using hydrogen gas,” McLeod says.
“This is opposed to battery electric machines, as they are just not efficient enough and certainly difficult to charge in the middle of a paddock or a remote job site.
“Whilst the infrastructure for hydrogen refuelling at the moment is still very limited compared to diesel, the backup and support is already in place for internal combustion engines around the world. Instead of putting fossil fuels into the tank, we’re putting a clean fuel in.”
Ultimate versatility
JCB has created a backhoe loader to suit all applications, from the skid steer loader-based 1CX, through the 3CX Compact and the various 3CX models, to the all-wheel steer 4CX and powerful 5CX. There are Highways Master and Wastemaster trims, even a Polemaster Plus for specialist utility work.
The JCB backhoe loader can load 20-tonnes of material in less than five minutes, while using 10 per cent less fuel than a 13-tonne excavator, it says. The machine can also move material across site 25 per cent faster than an eight-tonne excavator and nine-tonne site dumper, while using 50 per cent less fuel.
With regards to levelling material, JCB says its backloaders can level three times faster than a 13-tonne excavator, while using 25 per cent less fuel, while also having the capability to be driven to the site.
“The limitation that an excavator or a skid steer has, is that they’re very limited in terms of the road travel,” McLeod says.
“The 3CX Pro is now the fastest backhoe on the planet, as it can do 50km/h, which reduces time spent on point to point travel. Particularly on government or utility jobs, they’re driving potentially an hour or so to get to a job, and they’ll do the job for 15/20 minutes and then they’ve got to drive to another job. So the fact that machine can do that without having to be loaded onto a truck and offloaded is part of the versatility of the product.”
Customers can remove the bucket and shovel and operate the backhoe loader with a host of other attachments, from road sweepers to patch planers, hydraulic breakers to compaction, pallet forks to post-hole augers.
“There’s no doubt that the backhoe loader put JCB on the world map,” McLeod says.
“We still see a brighter future for the product and as market leaders for the product we continue to forge a path forward. And our philosophy is that we try and set the bar high so that others can’t jump it.”
For more information, visit: jcbcea.com.au
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