Skip to main content

JCB: new factory and new excavator

JCB has launched the brand new JS360 Auto tracked excavator to compete in the global market for excavators in the 33-40tonne market sector, marking the company's first entry in the higher end of this weight class. It will join the company's JS range of tracked and wheeled excavators, one of more than 300 products manufactured by the company, which offers a comprehensive range of 25 tracked and wheeled excavator models from 7-46tonnes.
July 10, 2012 Read time: 3 mins
The new JS360 tracked excavator is being built at the new JCB factory.
255 JCB has launched the brand new JS360 Auto tracked excavator to compete in the global market for excavators in the 33-40tonne market sector, marking the company's first entry in the higher end of this weight class.

It will join the company's JS range of tracked and wheeled excavators, one of more than 300 products manufactured by the company, which offers a comprehensive range of 25 tracked and wheeled excavator models from 7-46tonnes.

The new JS360 Auto tracked excavator will be manufactured at JCB's new £40 million (E44 million) Heavy Products plant following the transfer from its historic base in the centre of Uttoxeter, County Staffordshire, England, to a new site on the outskirts of the town. The 42,000m² factory, which opened in January, can produce up to 8,000 excavators a year as compared to 4,500 units at the old factory.

Matthew Taylor, JCB's CEO, said the new factory was one of the single biggest investments ever made by JCB.

JCB Heavy Products managing director John Gill said: "Without doubt, this factory is one of the most modern excavator manufacturing plants in the world and I'm extremely proud of the facility we have here.

"Since JCB began manufacturing the new JS range in 2003 we have built a reputation for the quality, durability, power, controllability, efficiency and comfort of our excavators. The massive investment we've undertaken in building this new factory means we can enhance that reputation still further by building machines of higher quality.

"JCB's range of JS tracked and wheeled excavators already have a formidable reputation for high quality. Taking those quality levels to new heights was at the heart of the decision to invest £40 million in excavator manufacturing."

The new JS360, which has an operating weight of between 36.5-38tonnes, is said to combine high torque, pump flow and bucket breakout forces with excellent controllability to deliver a powerful, productive and accurate new machine for heavy duty applications, such as demolition, quarrying, earthmoving and roadbuilding."

It is powered by a 7.8litre, six-cylinder, Tier III-compliant 2724 Isuzu engine, producing 212kW at 2,000rpm and it is supplied with a 6.45m mono boom for easy transportation and greater lift capacity. The boom is available with a choice of dipper lengths (2.1, 2.63, 3.23, and 4.03m) to suit differing customer requirements for reach, dig-depth, loadover height, tearouts and site versatility.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Versatile small construction equipment
    February 9, 2012
    Smaller construction equipment offers versatile options, particularly on highway repair and maintenance projects. Patrick Smith reports. Visitors to any highway construction site across the world will see a sizeable amount of utility equipment in action carrying out a variety of tasks. Indeed, because of its smaller, more compact size, such multi-task equipment is essential when repair and maintenance projects are being carried out, particularly in urban areas where space may be limited.
  • JCB celebrating 70th anniversary
    October 21, 2015
    UK construction equipment manufacturer JCB is celebrating its 70th anniversary. The firm was founded on October 23rd, 1945 by the late Joseph Cyril Bamford in a lock-up garage in the Staffordshire market town of Uttoxeter. It was the same day as his son Anthony, now Lord Bamford, was born and as Mr Bamford remarked “being presented with a son tended to concentrate the mind and when you were starting at the bottom, there was only one way to go and that was up.” The foundation for the growth that was to
  • LiuGong is investing in product development and manufacturing
    October 11, 2013
    LiuGong has been investing heavily in manufacturing and product development, as well as building international distribution – vice president David Beatenbough spoke with Mike Woof One of Chinese leading producers of wheeled loaders, LiuGong has an increasingly international flavour. The company has perhaps a larger contingent of North American and European executives and employees working in China than most of its competitors in the country.
  • JCB is investing in its UK manufacturing
    December 6, 2013
    Equipment manufacturer JCB plans to invest €179.5 million (£150 million) in its manufacturing facilities in the UK. The investment will be targeted at its operations in Staffordshire and this will add some 2,500 to the firm’s payroll by 2018. This in turn is expected to add a further 7,500 jobs in the UK component supply chain. This investment represents the single largest investment in JCB’s history and includes a brand-new purpose-built factory for JCB Cab Systems in Beamhurst, near Uttoxeter, to replace