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J. C. Bamford
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JCB, or J.C.Bamford Excavators Limited. as it is more properly known, (the name was changed from J.C. Bamford (Excavators) Limited in 1967) is a family business named after its founder J. C. Bamford, producing distinctive yellow-and-black engineering vehicles, diggers ("Backhoes"), excavators, tractors, and diesel engines. In the UK, the word "JCB" is sometimes used colloquially as a genericised description for any such type of engineering vehicle, now appearing in the Oxford English Dictionary, although it is still held as a trademark.
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Encyclopedia
JCB, or J.C.Bamford Excavators Limited. as it is more properly known, (the name was changed from J.C. Bamford (Excavators) Limited in 1967) is a family business named after its founder J. C. Bamford, producing distinctive yellow-and-black engineering vehicles, diggers ("Backhoes"), excavators, tractors, and diesel engines. In the UK, the word "JCB" is sometimes used colloquially as a genericised description for any such type of engineering vehicle, now appearing in the Oxford English Dictionary, although it is still held as a trademark. JCB now makes over 300 types of machines for construction, industry, and agriculture. In 2007 the company's turnover was £2.25 billion.
Company facts
JCB is one of the three largest construction equipment manufacturers in the world and has 17 factories in the UK, Germany, Brazil, North and South America, India and China. The company employs some 8,000 people, has a range of more than 250 products and has operations in 150 countries.
Its UK factories are at:
- Cheadle, Staffordshire (JCB Compact Products Ltd., JCB Earthmovers Ltd., JCB Landpower Ltd. and JCB Groundcare Ltd.).
- Rocester: this is now the company's headquarters and production site for Backhoe Loaders and Telescopic 'Loadall' handlers.
- Rugeley (JCB Cab Systems Ltd. ).
- Uttoxeter (JCB Heavy Products Ltd., JCB Service Ltd, and JCB Attachments Ltd including JCB Light Equipment [World Parts Centre]).
- Wrexham (JCB Transmissions Ltd.)
- Foston, Derbyshire (JCB Power Systems Ltd.).
JCB also has factories abroad in:
JCB also owns Vibromax, a German compaction equipment company.
The company has also licensed its name and image to a line of consumer power tools, manufactured by Alba PLC.
History
The company was founded by Joseph Cyril Bamford in October 1945 in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, England. The first vehicle made in 1945 by JCB was a farm trailer made from war-surplus materials. In 1948 there were six people working for his company, and it made the first hydraulic tipping trailer in Europe. In 1953, the first backhoe loader was launched, and by 1964 JCB had sold over 3,000 3C backhoe loaders. In particular, this was due to entering the North American market. By 1978 the company had diversified with a Loadall machine, and has lately seen success with the Fastrac tractor.
Timeline
- 1916 June 21: Joseph Cyril Bamford was born.
- 1945: He rented a lock-up garage 12 feet by 15 feet in Uttoxeter. In it, using a welding set which he bought second-hand for £1 from English Electric, he made a tipping trailer from war-surplus materials. Its sides and floor were made from steel sheet that had been part of air-raid shelters. On the same day as his son Anthony was born he sold the trailer at a nearby market for £45 (plus a part-exchanged farm cart) and at once made another trailer. The first trailer and the welding set have been preserved: see image gallery.
- 1948: There were 6 people working for the company. It made the first hydraulic tipping trailer in Europe.
- 1950: He moved to an old cheese factory in Rocester; his workforce still totalled six.
- 1951: He began painting his machinery yellow.
- 1953 : The well-known JCB logo appeared. It was on a backhoe loader. He made the first backhoe excavator. He was a leading pioneer of the backhoe loading concept.
- 1957: He brought out the "hydra-digga", incorporating the excavator and the major loader as a single all-purpose tool which was useful for both the agricultural as well as construction industry, which JCB grew with.
- 1958: He bought ten scooters with the number plates JCB1 to JCB10. (He later transferred the registration code JCB1 to a Rolls-Royce.)
- 1960: JCB started fitting their typewriters with a special key to accurately render the JCB logo.
- 1960s: His hydraulic tractors entered the North American market, proving a long lasting success. It became, and still is, the brand leader in the world. The Dancing Diggers started.
- 1964: By now JCB had sold over 3000 3C backhoe loaders, particularly to customers in North America.
- 1969: He was awarded the CBE for Services to Export.
- 1975: Joseph Cyril Bamford retired.
- 1978: The Loadall machine was introduced.
- 2000: A JCB factory was completed in Pooler near Savannah, Georgia in USA.
- 2001: JCB opened a factory in Brazil.
- 2001: Joseph Cyril Bamford died aged 84. In his later life he was a tax exile.
- 2004: Production started of the diesel engine. The first engine designed and manufactured by JCB.
- 2005: JCB bought Vibromax (a German compaction equipment company). That was the first time since 1968 that JCB bought a company.
- 2005: JCB opened a new factory in China at Pudong close to Shanghai.
- 2006: JCB has 4000 employees, which is twice what it was in 1975.
- 2006: JCB Dieselmax breaks the diesel engine land speed record.
Vehicles
Most of the vehicles produced by JCB are some variant of the backhoe, with variations including tracked or wheeled variants, mini and large versions (but not the enormous mining vehicles sometimes associated with CAT) and other variations for carrying and moving items, for example fork lift vehicles and telescopic forklifts for moving materials to the upper floors of a building site.
Tractors
JCB has also made its name in the tractor world by producing one of the first such machines to feature proper suspension and capable of travelling at speed on roads. The JCB Fastrac entered production in 1990. Prior to this design, the suspension was difficult because of the fixed-height connections required to farm machinery, and tractors were notoriously slow on the roads. Dependent on the model the Fastrac can travel at 50 km/h, 65 km/h or 75 km/h (40 mph). The machine was featured on the BBC television programme Tomorrow's World when it first appeared due to its innovative design.
From 2006 the company also produces a range of compact tractors designed for grounds-care, horticultural, and light agricultural duties.
JCB Dieselmax
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In April 2006, JCB announced that they were developing a Diesel-powered Land Speed Record vehicle known as the 'JCB Dieselmax'. The car is powered by two specially modified JCB 444 diesel powerplants that use a two-stage turbocharger to generate 750 bhp, one engine driving the front wheels and the other the rear wheels.
On August 22, 2006 the Dieselmax, driven by Andy Green broke the diesel engine land speed record, attaining a speed of 328.767 mph (529 km/h). The following day, the record was again broken, this time with a speed of 350.092 mph (563.418 km/h).
JCB display team
To demonstrate the versatility of the backhoe configuration, JCB set up a display team (JCB Dancing Diggers) to tour agricultural shows and produce videos, showing some of the unusual ways in which such vehicles could support themselves or manoeuvre. For example, it is quite common for drivers to support the vehicle on both buckets, either for turning on the spot without damaging ground, or for spinning the tracks in a puddle to clean them. The display team expanded this concept into a sort of vehicle gymnastics.
Marketing and Logo
The JCB logo dates from 1953, from 1960 the company typewriters were given an extra key to render it accurately and their computers are now formatted to do so. The company has mainly advertised in the trade publications and their advertisements have won many awards, particularly for photography.
In popular culture
- In 1958 the singer Lenny Green had a song called JCB and Me.
- In UK version of the Teletubbies one of the live-action visual 5-minute segments (seen from a Teletubby belly) featured number counting involving vehicles in lines. A row of JCBs are seen in line, their hydraulics operated as if they are 'dancing'.
- JCB is gaining international notoriety of sorts after being prominently featured in the song "JCB" by the music group Nizlopi, which has achieved UK Number One status. The song is about a boy who goes to work with his father for the day.
- A JCB (not talking) named Jekub appears in volume 2 (Diggers) of The Bromeliad (alias Nomes) series by Terry Pratchett.
- The Lego Technic range featured a scale-model of the JCB backhoe (Set ), complete with working hydraulics systems (simulated using pneumatics) and many other features of the original.
- The cutting of network cables during road repairs is now so common, that network engineers often refer to "backhoe fade" as an inevitable cause of communications problems.
- In series 9 of Top Gear Jeremy Clarkson bought a JCB for a challenge involving "growing your own petrol". Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond all had to reverse their vehicles around the Top Gear car park.
- The song 'McCavity' by the UK group The Macc Lads contains the line "He's filled more holes than a JCB" to ( rather crudely ) demonstrate the sexual prowess of the band-member being sung about.
- One digger stars in the music video Sunday Morning - 1985 hit song by The Bolshoi. Three band members are standing on this 360-degree excavator while Trevor Tanner (the singer) is lying on the sofa.
Images
External links
Company related
- Excavator-themed theme park
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Other
- : another similar display team, and its display dates
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- : another similar display team, and its display dates
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