So couple months ago I was talking to my son in law . He works for a company that does utility work . dry work for the most . I asked him If we started a shop and you could have any machine you wanted what would you want ? He siad JCB . So had to ask why . He was commenting on the feel and natural ability of the machine . He said it just felt better than anything he has run. I found it interesting . He runs Deere and Cat . The JCB was a rental and he has been doing this for 20 years . Anyone else like them ? Ran couple in the 80s the 1400 . Didn't hate it couldn't for an option back then .
Operators love them as they are smooth and strong. Mechanics think they are ok, not too complicated. Parts people love them……$$$$$$. The problem with JCB has always been their dealer/customer support……it’s usually ugly for most.
I think that their is some merit to his comments. Many have sat in a machine that just "fit" us. This is a great example of why many brands exist. Lets face it, most all machines do the same task in todays world, so, why not get a machine that feels rite to you.
Only had one experience with a JCB think it was a 185 skid-steer. Company bought it to "replace" an old 1845C Case! I'd have to do some digging for exact dates but know 4 or 5 years latter we were still using the 1845C and that 185 JCB was spending more time in shop waiting for the next failed part to come in and be installed. Just checked the Case was a 1989 and the JCB was a 1999 so Case had spent a hard ten years in the quarry when the JCB was purchased and the Case was still hard at work when I retired in 2015! Now I'm not saying the Case never broke down but considering the abuse a skid steer gets doing clean-up in a stone quarry I could not fault it any. I know the engine was more or less untouched other than one valve adjustment and one water pump and starter. For get who came up with the explanation of what JCB means but we always knew it as: J unk C ame from B ritain
rental yards had em but no contractor. Downside was the design on the hoe swing cylinders hanging on the bottom,loader didn't have the power & the metric hose thread was hard to find
I thought they use an exclusive type of fittings so if you blow a hyd. hose you have to go to a JCB dealer or fully stocked hyd. shop. Not so good if you blow a hose on a Fri. afternoon and have to wait till Mon. to get a replacement.
JCB use to use British pipe thread and metric fittings, not sure anymore. Thats why I swore I’d never own a JCB.
BSP fittings are pretty common now, even my Takeuchi excavators use them.
What about Metric fittings?