Reflecting on the production of the one millionth JCB backhoe loader.

As reported in last month's Farmer, centenarian Ken Harrison was a guest of honour at celebrations to mark the milestone as the last known survivor of the original production team that built the first machines.   

JCB backhoes are manufactured in the UK, India and Brazil and the company sells the product in 120 different countries. The business unit which manufactures the machines has previously won six Queen’s Awards.

He joined Lord Bamford, who said: “I am the only person in the business now who can remember the early days when we first started to make backhoes in what was a former cheese factory in Rocester. 

"Looking back at that time, I could never have imagined that we would make one million of these diggers after such humble beginnings. Looking back is a fun thing to do but it’s always been JCB’s way to look forward and I’m looking forward to the production of the next one million backhoes.”  

Such a milestone should not go unmarked and we has taken more of a look at the history of the development of the JCB backhoe loader. 

Over 73 years, the backhoe loader has been the foundation of construction and plant hire businesses across the world.

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, one of the most important and influential machines that the construction industry has ever seen.

This early model was strengthened and performance improved, with the launch of 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 turned the humble backhoe loader into one of the most versatile, productive and reliable master-of-all-trades machines.

From those early days, JCB 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 an innovative hydrogen engine, that will take the backhoe loader boldly into a zero-emission future.

The backhoe loader concept continues to expand, 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. 

There is a JCB backhoe loader to suit every application, anywhere in the world and the JCB backhoe loader is built in multiple sites around the world, to better suit local demand.

For more than 70 years JCB has continued to develop and refine the backhoe loader, achieving sales success and market leadership in every corner of the globe. 

The most efficient, productive, versatile and reliable backhoe loader in the world, continues to provide customers with one machine that can carry out a multitude of tasks.

The JCB backhoe loader can load 20-tonnes of material in less than five minutes, while using 10% less fuel than a 13-tonne excavator. It can move material across site 25 per cent faster than an 8-tonne excavator and 9-tonne site dumper, while using 50 per cent less fuel. 

It is able to level material three times faster than a 13-tonne excavator, while using 25 per cent less fuel. Plus, the backhoe loader can drive itself to and from site, with no requirement for additional transportation.

Alternatively, 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.

Ken Harrison, who turned 100 last November, reflected on his days with the company. 

 He joined JCB as a welder in 1952 when only 29 people worked on the shop floor, earning four shillings and sixpence an hour, the equivalent of 22½ pence in today’s money. He stayed for 36 years before retiring in 1988.

When Ken joined JCB, it was to be the start of a family tradition. Thirteen other relatives followed in his footsteps and to date Ken’s family has amassed more than 350 years’ service to JCB. He had been brought up as the eldest of eight children at Barrow Hill overlooking what would become the JCB factory half a mile away. Ken was also the forefront of JCB’s European sales drive in the 1950s and 1960s having spent six years in the Demonstration Team driving machines to show to customers and dealers.

Ken said: “We put long hours in at the factory in those days, in fact we almost lived there. I can remember being at work at 5pm one Sunday and I was the only one there when Joe Bamford came in and shouted across to me ‘I’m relying on you Harrison’. In those days, everyone was addressed by their surname. Joe was all right; I really liked him. Everyone was happy and friendly and everyone mucked in in those days. One day you would be welding and the next you would be operating a concrete mixer. You’d be doing all sorts of jobs in those early days, nothing like it is today.

“I remember the time they were extending the factory; it was so draughty you literally couldn’t weld as the weld was just blown away because all we had around us was a giant tarpaulin. We turned our hand to anything and when I was out driving a truck, Anthony Bamford used to come with me when I was out on local deliveries. He would only have been about 11 and it was a real novelty for him.”