Anyone have any experience with the JCB 212S? I am in the need of a backhoe for minor resort work ie: water lines, grubbing stumps. boulder moving and a good share of the time I will need a snowpusher on the front as it will be located at 10,000' in the Colorado rockies. There is one on ebay and looks like it may be a handy unit but I have no knowledge of JCB'S except what I read on here, as in leaking and overall poor units. What do the Guru's on here have to say about a unit like this? Thanks, Mark
I have one and love it. Parts are pricey. 1600 hrs and no trouble so far. The 212 is sort of a odd ball, slightly smaller than a regular backhoe and more agile, and larger than the Kobota, JD 110, Bob cat B300, IR 475.
run...sorry jmo
I know there are a bunch of guys on here who really like the JCB's... I also know when I was shopping for my hoe for much the same type of stuff your doing just not at such a high elevation. I didnt like the quality of them compaired to the Cases in my area. There are alot of nice machines available rite now, so i would say shop around, and buy what you like. If you find a JCB that you fall in love with, go with it, but dont limit yourself to JCB, Case or any one while you are shopping, look at them all, and dont be afraid to post a "what do you think" type thread here. We have helped MANY MANY people buy their hoes!
A 212 or 210 JCB cant be compared to a Case because a Case doesnt make any thing in that size. With a 212 you could still tow it and stay under cdl. A 212, all wheels steer and will not cut and tear up a yard like a full size backhoe will. These little hoes are hard to beat if used for what they were intended for. The only thing is they are pricey, and dealership is very weak.
hi i have driven these machines they are a good little machine very versitile great in small places they are little tight to get into when it comes to repairs on them but overall a good machine jcb spares i know seem hard to get over your way but if you get in touch with digger doctor uk he does the parts for them he sends parts around the world for jcb machines he was a jcb engineer so will help on the technical side if you need if you google him you will find him good luck
Hi there cannonman1, I work at a JCB dealership in Canada. The 212S or 210`s are a solid workhorse. They come standard with a Perkins Diesel (2005 and below) which is a reliable engine. If your looking for an older unit (90`s) it will have the older series Perkins which has trouble starting in colder climates, but is still a reliable engine. For those machines, I`ve only seen 1 transmission job in our shop in 4 yrs. The cabs on these machines are fairly plain compared to a fully loaded Backhoe. They also have auxilary plumbing to the Backhoe, two-stick hoe controls and front Quick-Attach which is all standard (except for 212SL and 212SU which have no backhoe attachment). PS The Hourmeter usually quits working after 500 Hours on those units
good god run faster imo
perkins diesel yes very nice ....but they suck
Tigercat - how as the post-2005 JCB designed diesel been?
JCB is not using the Perkins engines in there Backhoe's or Loadall's anymore, just because the simple fact that Caterpillar owns Perkins. JCB ended up designing there own engine (with the help from the Williams racing team) which replaced the 4 cylinder Perkins. It has been very reliable so far. The early ones tended to leak coolant around the plastic thermostat housing (easy fix), but the only big fix I've seen, was a rear main which dumped engine oil into the bell housing, on a 2CX (212). They also seem to start alot better in the colder weather than the older Perkins. PS: 2005's and 2006's 212's still used the Perkins
they are a good machine very reliable , there is a good second hand spares market for them in the uk [not much use to you if you need parts in a hurry but the parts are all avalible if you can wait]
I recently bought a 2004 212s with the clam shell front bucket and has the quick disconnect hydrolic pins. Is there a trick to operating the pins to release? I noticed that the pins released when I opened the clam shell. Has anyone had this problem?
The auxillary hydraulics (stick next to the loader control stick)which operate the clam also serve to operate the quick hitch release pins. There's a shut off valve for the quick release located on the quick hitch. The lever should be straight up perpendicular to the hydraulic line at all times except when releasing the quick hitch. Move the lever down until it's parallel to the hydraulic line when you want to operate the quick hitch.
if your looking for JCB parts in Canada you can check these guys out www.becequipment.ca
Funny, on my 212s the valve is in the upright position and the release pins work just fine. Honestly, I've never tried moving the lever at all to see if that affects the pin operation. No need to and as things age I cling more tightly to the saying, "if it ain't broke, don't go fixin' it!!" Dave