JCB’s timeless workhorse reaches another landmark
750,000th backhoe loader rolled off the JCB production line last week and it remains a global leader after 67 years
It continues to be a hugely popular machine on many an Irish farm, charged with a plethora of duties ranging from feeding bales and digging drains. Now the JCB backhoe loader has racked up such numbers that it is difficult to argue against its legendary status — its 750,000th machine rolled off the production line last week.
The first JCB was driven off the line at the company’s factory in Staffordshire almost 70 years ago.
It was in 1953 that company founder, the late Joseph Cyril Bamford, conceived the idea of the JCB backhoe loader.
In doing so, JCB created, for the first time, a single machine which combined a front shovel and rear excavator arm.
We may not think twice about them nowadays if passing one on the road or watching it work in a field, but back then, these most dexterous and versatile machines must have been a sight to behold. In its first full year of production in 1954, just 35 were produced.
In fact, it would go on to take more than 20 years for the first 50,000 to be made. The company now manufactures backhoe loaders in the UK, India, Brazil and the USA.
Current JCB Chairman Anthony Bamford is the son of founder Joseph and is estimated to have a net worth of €3.8bn.
Despite its maturity, the backhoe loader remains hugely popular in terms of global construction and plant equipment sales.
It remains the biggest selling machine of its kind in the world and has been for 19 consecutive years.
The company’s first backhoe was the JCB Mark I and the concept quite literally went on to change the shape of the world, mechanising many jobs which had previously been done by hand.
The product developed rapidly, with the launch of the Hyddra-Digga in 1956. Both of these early machines came in blue and red livery and it was only in 1960, with the launch of the heavier, more powerful JCB 4, that JCB’s signature yellow branding made its first appearance.
The JCB 3 went into production in 1961, followed by the JCB 3C in 1963 and the JCB 3CII in 1967 — a model which stood the test of time, staying in production for the next 13 years.
Backhoe icon
The year 1980 proved to be a real turning point with the launch of the technologically advanced JCB 3CX.
It has become a backhoe icon around the world and many durable examples are still dotted around Irish farms. It was the launch of this machine which was the real catalyst for growth of backhoe sales for JCB.
The machine has hit the news in various ways over the years as it became a cultural
Dig it:
The modern JCB has evolved from the JCB 3CX which was launched in 1980 and went on to become an iconic machine for the brand;
customers were amazed at the hydraulic strength of JCB’s early backhoes from the 1960s icon, even featuring as the subject of a song which made the top of the charts.
It was a JCB backhoe which thieves used in a failed attempt to steal £350m worth of diamonds from London’s Millennium Dome in 2000.
But more recently, even the mighty JCB has been humbled by the coronavirus, with the manufacturer announcing a reduced working week as the Covid-19 crisis hit parts’ supplies from China.
That decision has now been reversed as the crisis eases in China, but JCB CEO Graeme Macdonald warned this week that new threats are emerging for the firm’s supply chain in Italy and South Korea as the crisis evolves.
‘The machine literally helped change the shape of the world, mechanising many jobs which had previously been done by hand’