Backhoe loader #750,000 rolls off JCB production line04 March 2020
JCB’s 750,000th backhoe loader has rolled off the production line at its factory in Rocester, Staffordshire – the very location where the first JCB backhoe was manufactured almost 70 years ago.
JCB Chairman Lord Bamford said that “it’s incredible to think we have now manufactured 750,000”.
“What’s even more incredible is that the backhoe remains one of the world’s most popular pieces of construction equipment almost seven decades after the first was produced,” he added. “It really is testament to the versatility of the machine that its popularity continues to endure and will see it continue to prosper in the future.”
In its first full year of production in 1954, just 35 of the machines were produced and it took more than 20 years for the first 50,000 to be made.
The 750,000th model is a ‘special edition’ of JCB’s latest 3CX backhoe loader, said to be bearing a unique livery and comprehensive specification.
Phil Starbuck, 60, of Foxt, near Leek, Staffordshire, joined the company as an apprentice in 1975, when it had made just over 50,000 backhoe loaders. Today he is the longest serving employee in the backhoe loader business unit and joined in the celebrations.
The JCB Backhoe group leader said: “I am very proud to be a part of this special production milestone. It is a marvellous achievement and to be part of it is fantastic.”
The latest backhoe production milestone comes after JCB celebrated the manufacture of its 500,000th backhoe in December 2012.
Adam Offord
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