Thanks for asking for more pics guys - JCB is as generic in the UK as CAT or Deere is in the US and Canada (no arguements) so heres some pics of a 3D and 5C
Yikes, some of those were actually ugly!
No way to be honest I like the looks of the older JCB's very meat and potatos no electronics as far as I've seen. What paint did you use on the excavator?
Last year while working in Avon Ohio On SR 83; we were dumping millings on this old guy's property! He was happy as a pig in mud to be getting all those loads of grindings for free! He was so happy he gave every driver who came in there a bottle of home made wine! His backhoe was an unrestored JCB just like the one in the picture, but no cab! I was impressed with how much meterial that machine would move! To me the backhoe setup seemed a little off balance! The boom was mounted to the left side instead of in the center! I like the straight down outriggers! Think of how many truck tires those save! Had a few guys lift the outriggers into the side wall of a tire; or bump my steps on the fuel tanks! NOTICE I did NOT say operators! These guys were NOT operators!
are you sure it wasn't a side-shift backhoe? those have a boom pivot that can slide left to right on a rail on the back of the machine. but they get moved to the side in the stowed position. here is an example:
Side Shifts are the only way to go.
Side shift backhoes have their advantages, but they have disadvantages as well. Advantages are being able to dig a square or rectangular hole for a tank without moving the machine, digging against a foundation or off the shoulder without having to **** the machine diagonal to the work, among other things. I owned a John Deere 410 with a side shift hoe that used a hydraulic motor for the boom swing rather than cylinders. This set up doesn't have the torque that the pistons do so it was very difficult to move the machine if you had gotten stuck by hoisting it and swinging. With a full bucket and boom extended, it was often difficult to get the boom to swing uphill if the need was there, it would move but it would take some time for the motor to overcome the weight. Those outriggers might look nice, but they are much less stable than extendable stabilizers. This is due to their position, they are much closer in to the machine and offer less leverage against tipping. They often times will not lift the machine as high as extendable stabilizers either which could be a problem under some conditions. Side shift hoes have their place, but they are not the best machine for every job.
centremounts Yes all that you've said can be true - and not forgetting that a sideshift is great for digging a parallel trench close to a building and they can be tucked away neatly against the rear of the machine for transportation etc. I know the main reason why the US/Canada has centermounts is the fact that the backhoe attached to most machines are "Massive" compared to most British /European machines (at least 3ft extra reach) . If the same backhoe varient was attached to British/European machines they would simply topple or pull the rest of the machine apart thus the need to keep "massive" centrmount backoes within the centre of the machine to maintain optimin balance. The US and Canada are massive countries and have a lot of space and it's true to say that all over there is a lot bigger in general than anything over here - just look at evreything from apples to cars - even look at people - The extra large syndrome defiently was invented on the west side of the Atlantic -Therefore the same logic shouldn't be any different when it comes to backhoe loaders!!! There are a few European machines that rely on centemounting due to their massive size - a few examples are Hydrema, Lannen and Valmett (spelling may not be accurate) These are big big machines and cost a small fortune. I've attached some photos of some centemonts and sideshifts over the years for comparison.
The swing on my machine was similar to the Ford you have pictured here, a hydraulic motor swung the boom.
No way! The right fender would NOT allow the boom to slide, and there were no rails; no hyd motor at the boom bottom. It was fixed to the left just inside the left tire! The outriggers were vertical, and extended just outside the tire! To transport the machine the boom was swng right and folded right against the rear of the machine! I would have noticed a track for the boom to traverse on! The whole back of the machine was enclosed; the right fender ran around back of the machine! The guy had to enter and exit from the left due to the massive fender on the right! Like I said different setup! I even questioned him about the left side backhoe, and he said he bought it that way! He said he thought it may have been set up to either set closer to the hole; or closer to the truck for like cleaning out ditches? He really didn't have an idea why it was set up like that! if you notice in the picture the cab (which he didn't have) the right rear window post slants to the right while the left and is straight up and down! I didn't design it I just seen it!
Jcb Perhaps his JCB looked more like this type of JCB mk11/111 machine??