I am always looking at equipment on the net and have been looking at the JCB machines recently. We run all 10,000 lb machines mostly for the reach and i came across a 550-170 machine. That is a low boom design which i really dont care for but they are also making a 10-55 machine with the high boom design. I just wondered if anybody has put some hours on this line of machine and what they have to say about it??? I dont get a warm and fuzzy feeling from the JCB name, not that they are bad machines. I have had a few people over the years tell me that the reliability wasnt that great (backhoes) and i know from experience they dont have a very good resale value. I wont go into any more detail on the negatives, after the whole skidsteer conversation on here!:drinkup
Nobodys running these machines??
i've ran the 6000 and 8000 lb jcb and love them. the new 10,000 pounder looks like a very nice machine.
As a field mechanic, I don't like the parts issues I always run across and the hydraulic hoses are usually metric. Not all places carry metric fittings in stock, which means farther drive and more down time. Of the 2 JCB forklifts that I have worked on, the operators both liked them.
I was an owner driver of several JCB backhoes as you call them and reliability was never a problem, in fact the opposite was true. A lot of my work was Motorway construction and 12 hour shifts, 7 days a week the norm.If the machine was not reliable the contractors won't hire them
I've been keeping my eyes peeled for a 550-170 to try out. I havent really had any luck though. I have ran the 506 models and they are just as good as anything else out there. I did run across the new high boom model, gonna try to make some time to check it out.... not that i can afford a new one. I wonder if someone can explain to me the advantage of a low boom type machine? Seems the standard in Europe. I used to have one and i really didnt like it, I was always afraid of traveling with the boom so low to keep the 360 degree sight. If not the boom had to be raised so high to see under it that it didnt feel right either.
The low boom has a lower center of gravity, but I have never noticed a difference in operation. The low boom usually has less visibility because, like you say, everyone travels with it raised a little which obstructs vision to the right side. The low boom can leave you in a pickle if the machine dies, the boom is down and what you need to get to for repair is under the boom! I've ran into this situation a couple of times on some Gehl low boom machines.