Watching the number 1 machine come down to JCB backhoes they said they are number 1 machine built :laugh Discovery channel must have been paid to promote JCB because in my mind JCB backhoes are JUNK. After spending quite a few hours behind the wheel of one they are no match to a Case which is the best rubber tired backhoe sold. I like watching Discovery channel but some of the stuff they say is a little off.
I missed that one... Everyone has their preferences...i also like Case backhoes - a friend that has a couple JCB's says the drivetrains hold up better than the Cases he's had. I know Case had a transaxle problem around 1992...maybe that's the ones he had problems with...I didn't know him back then.
It seemed like Discovery used England (UK) as the basis for saying JCB is the best I think that is the only brand over there and maybe New Holland. The JCB I was running only had maybe 2400 hours on it there was plastic parts falling off of it the windshield wiper motor went on it the brakes in it were hit and miss. The backhoe is a 2000 model 4x4x4 so it is 5 years old. The hoe part itself is hairy to run its a hard machine to run smooth and I wasn't the only operator to say that. Another thing the machine was slow roading it down the road one day I had to pull over and let another contractor with a 590 Case 4x4 pass me I couldn't keep up he was gone. I know the contractor his Case is a 2004 machine. When I talked him couple weeks later he said to me couldn't you get that thing to go any faster I said nope.
In my mind the JCB backhoes are complete junk. I don't know how they came up JCB as the best but you ask any Operator who has operated the JCB and most will say they are junk. I was movinig myself into position to dig with the boom and it snapped right off on a JCB. I like the John Deere Combinations the best.
The only John Deere I have ran were old 310 that belongs to my dad and a 410 that belonged to a sawmill company. They are old backhoes must be in the early 80s they have the the squarish enclosed cabs. They also have clutches and both 2wd they are the type of backhoe you have to back up steep hills or the front wheels dance :bouncegri Both backhoes were well worn not something you would take to a jobsite.
I don't have first hand experience, but I've talked to a couple guys who said they hated JCB because the weight distribution on them was terrible. Backhoes are already backheavy, but I guess JCB's are worse and if you got into soft areas forget it. I remember a crew was doing a sewer line install a few years back and the sewer line was laid on the shore of the lake and the crew was running 2 JCB backhoes, a couple operators got fed up with getting stuck and having to get the dozer or excavator to pull them out that they just up and left and said to hell with it. Both machines were 4X4 and they still couldn't keep them from getting stuck. These machines were probably around 1995 model year, maybe they're better now, but I'll stick with Cat or Case, excellent backhoes.
Every now and then, the neighbor calls for me to do some digging with his machine.. He has an 89 214 extenda hoe JCB... The neighbor tries for hours to dig a long trench, even though the neighbor is new at it.. I've told him a hundred times, not all of it is operator error.. Most is the lack of pin bushings.. Friendliest hoe anyone will run across... The hoe will do figure 8's waving at everybody as you move the machine.. Just plain beat into the ground. He is a new owner who never had a machine before, and didn't bring anyone when looking and buying.. So,, no bushings, loose cab parts, I can light a match and get more heat then the heater produces.. It might be an OK machine for like this guy, who will never leave his property and do small jobs.. I don't care for the way JCB designed the hydro lines to each cylinder... They vibrate, and eventually crack and break.. Not so sure I would own one....
Anyone know if that show airs here (in the US)? I know it airs in Canada... grr I want to see it!
please anyone on info about when this is on again. john deere is pretty tuff to beat for the money. never ran a jcb.
When I watched the show it was at midnight on discovery channel Canada I don't know if discovery channel USA has the same programing. As for JCB the 4x4x4 backhoe I was running it was really tippy feeling I really don't think those 4 equal sized tires are a good idea it makes the center of gravity too high. As for traction I have had the machine sunk up to the bottom of the fuel tank and steps the machine did have troubles getting through the muck. The heater worked good on the machine I was running it would cook you out of the cab but in the summer the cab was like a oven the doors on a JCB don't have windows that open to the side. The door post has a rod that holds the door open a little bit. That doesn't let in much ventilation you could open up the back window but the back up beeper would deafen you. As for running the hoe like I meantioned it was wild to run I don't know what it was either the controls or poor hydraulics or what. The swing was the worst no way you could have a person working next to the boom say a guy picking the rocks out of the trench. Like I said I ran a 590 Case 4x4 it was a 98 model the hoe was smooth to run it wasn't jerky. My dads old John Deere is kinda like the JCB but the Deere is 20 years older and its pins are worn the JCBs pins are tight.
Their forklifs are piles of cr_p also. IMO forklifts should never have windows on them and if they do atleast make the windsheild wiper work. Its not easy unloading trucks when you can see what your doing. :cussing Other useless stuff on JCB forklifts are: Tachometers, speedometers, turn signals, heaters that dont work, doors, windows, clutch, lights that dont work.
Well I have been in a JCB 1550 for the last two days and got 3 more days. Its a 1989 model. Been well beat too. The last owner I don't think knew what a grease gun was for. You got to have a smooth hand to run them when they are new. Try one that has really bad wear in the bushing. With the boom and arm all the way out. You can push it side to side almost a whole foot. But I will say it does have some balls when digging in hard clay and rock city. But then again its weights like 16,000lbs. The real old ones were good, Then they got progressivally worse.
Last year in an magazine, that JCB was #1 in world. True they are a good machine. Parts are hard to get have to wait for them to even come into U.S. some times. We started with John Deere in the late 70s and early 80s,went to Case. Stayed with case because cat or anyone else will not give very much for them in on trade. We started with the D models (the best hoe) we have a new one now. They have gotten heavier slower and less metal cylinders are smaller. Ac does not work and dealer hasn't been able to fix it. The early Deere were a joke no power broke down all the time. We would have traded them for IH the IH dealer did not wont them. Case has been good most of the time . We have owned about 14 cases only two were lemons. (not real bad) Cases are the hoe most people have here because of steep working conditions.
(Hillrancher, I merged the thread you created with this one. I figured you'd rather have that, than have gone to the trouble of typing up your thoughts and then deleting them.)