JCB held a special event at its World Headquarters in Staffordshire recently where the company revealed the prototype of a new site dumper and announced the launch of a trio of mini excavators and a new crawler excavator.
Project Plant was in attendance for the reveal of the new 7-tonne Hi-Viz site dumper concept, which aims to reduce the number of accidents involving dumpers on construction sites.
The new Hi-Viz dumper will feature a reduced skip height to improve visibility, a longer wheelbase and lower centre of gravity and will allow an operator to see a 1.2m high person or object all around the machine.
All images from the JCB reveal:
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The dumper features a ROPS/FOPS Level II cab with a Secondary Impact Protection System (SIPS) and the machine’s front axle has been moved forwards, which allows the skip to sit behind the axle line. The front chassis has been lowered behind the front axle, allowing the skip to sit lower on the frame. The skip offers a 3.4m3 heaped capacity and overall width within 2.5m.
JCB CEO Graeme Macdonald said in a statement, “JCB has offered a range of site dumpers under a supply agreement with a third party manufacturer since 2015. In deciding to begin manufacturing our own range, we have taken the opportunity to innovate and we have developed a solution that directly addresses safety concerns. This is good news for everyone in the industry and it’s good news for manufacturing in the UK and Staffordshire.
“We believe that the JCB Hi-Viz site dumper concept will provide a much safer solution in terms of visibility, operator protection and stability. It is a clear demonstration of JCB’s innovative approach to machine design, delivering improved safety and productivity for rental customers and operators.”
The new Hi-Viz dumper will go into production at the end of 2017 at JCB’s World Headquarters, which is set to create over 50 new jobs.
The manufacturer also announced a new range of 1.6-1.8-tonne mini excavators, which have been designed to meet the needs of “individual industry customers”. The range is made up of the rental-specific, conventional tailswing 16C-1, the new 18Z-1, which is the company’s first zero tailswing 1.7-tonne model and the conventional tailswing 19C-1.
The successor to the JZ140, the new JZ141 crawler excavator was also announced. The new reduced swing machine features a 55kW JCB EcoMAX engine and is the only 15-tonne class crawler excavator to meet Tier 4 Final emissions standards without a diesel particulate filter (DPF) or exhaust fluid additive, JCB claims.
You can read a full report on the event in the August/September issue of Project Plant.
