Saturday, 14 November 2015 12:55

The yellow digger turns 70

Written by  Mark Daniel
All its 12,000 employees worldwide got a lie-in on Friday October 23, to celebrate the company's founding on that date in 1945. All its 12,000 employees worldwide got a lie-in on Friday October 23, to celebrate the company's founding on that date in 1945.

There's no better recognised brand and trademark than JCB, famous for its bright yellow diggers.

All its 12,000 employees worldwide got a lie-in on Friday October 23, to celebrate the company's founding on that date in 1945, when Joseph Cyril Bamford (JCB) set up a workshop in a lock-up garage in UIttoxeter, UK, making trailers from wartime scrap metal.

Today the company operates 22 factories – 11 in the UK and others in India, US, Brazil and China, annually generating revenue of around 2.7 billion pounds.

Chairman Sir Anthony Bamford marked the milestone: "My first memories of my father were that he was always dreaming up ways of doing things better, as epitomised by the invention of the backhoe loader in 1953, which proved to be a godsend and caused a revolution in the construction industry."

Today backhoe loaders are part of a product portfolio of at least 300 products produced and sold globally -- over 600,000 backhoes since those early days.

The backhoe range alone runs to 40 different models from the compact 1CX to the mighty 5CX.

jcbdiggerWhile the backhoe loader was undoubtedly the building block of the company, diversification over the years saw a move into agriculture, military and industrial products.

On the agricultural front, how many farming operations have had their materials handling revolutionised by a JCB Loadall and their transport operations accelerated by the unique Fastrac that still turns in a credible performance in the paddock?

The business remains privately owned by the original family and still works to the ethos of Mr JCB who said "our customers make payday possible and we need to listen to and work with then closely".

To celebrate the milestone a Platinum Edition 3CX will be built in a limited number of 70, with red buckets, a full white cab and red wheels. They will give JCB followers something to remember: this look was last seen on the 3CIII in 1979.

More like this

JCB unveils new models

The first of the UK’s agricultural trade shows was recently held at the NEC Centre in Birmingham.

Featured

LIC Space folds for good

Farmer co-operative LIC has closed its satellite-backed pasture measurement platform – Space.

Editorial: Time for common sense

OPINION: The case of four Canterbury high country stations facing costly and complex consent hearing processes highlights the dilemma facing the farming sector as the country transitions into a replacement for the Resource Management Act (RMA).

National

DairyNZ Farmers Forum underway

Over 300 farmers and rural professionals have gathered in Hamilton for the first DairyNZ Farmers Forum for this year.

Machinery & Products

Shearing legend hooked on CanAm

Sir David Fagan, world-renowned competitive sheep shearer with 642 shearing titles worldwide and a knighthood to his name, now runs…

50 years of tractor pull

This year, the Fieldays Tractor Pull, in association with PTS Logistics, mark a major milestone – 50 years of crowd-thrilling…

The Wrangler's birthday bash

It's the Wrangler Limited’s 30th birthday and to celebrate the milestone a prototype of the E Series Wrangler - a…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Free speech

OPINION: The Free Speech Union is taking this one too far.

Drug survey

OPINION: New national data from The Drug Detection Agency (TDDA), a leading workplace drug tester, shows methamphetamine (meth) use is…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter