JCB backhoe

[oldtanker]

I'm looking at an old JCB 3 backhoe. I've never owned a hoe so don't know a lot about them. It would be used on farm for mostly lite work. Price is 4500. What should I know about these machiens? The owner is willing to let me try it out for a few days. What should I look for besides leaks, shifting and operation?

Rick

 

[markct]

i would shy away from a jcb for the type work you want it for. jcb has alot of wiring, a solenoid for everything it seems, they are very nice to run, but a real pain when they stop working. and for a machine that will see occasional use mice and age will deteriorate the wiring and make nothing but a headache for you

 

[noncompos]

FWIW, I have very little listing the JCB 3's, but what I do have shows mostly Leyland engines, with an occasional BMC, a Perkins 6.248 and a Ford 957E, which might be an English Ford engine. You'd probably want to check on availability and price for parts for whatever running gear yours has, and, if you don't do all your repair yourself, if anyone in your area's familiar with these. Good luck.

 

[noncompos]

Forgot to mention there's a Leyland/Nuffield/BMC/Marshall tractor forum (leylandtractorforum.com). You have to register to get in, but it's free; if you have Brit running gear they might be able to advise re' parts. Good luck.

 

[AJ.]

I"m in the UK and am familiar with JCB machinery since it came on the market,there is a model of a JCB for every day of the month,the first JCB were built on a Fordson Major up to about the mid sixties,then they changed over to BMC Nuffield who later became Leyland,JCB badged their machines 3C,3C MkI,3C MkII 3C MkIII, 3C TC and 3C PT,about 1980 they changed over to Perkins power and a brand new design of chassis this was called the 3Cx,all JCB were good old workhorses,simple to repair,good starters,what model is yours is it shutttle shift or manual,the old machines had only the starter solenoid,the new models are the same as the rest all relay and solenoids from about 1990 on.
AJ

 

[Petert]

AJ do you know anything about jcb excavators. I have an 8080 and want to put a thumb on it. Email is open. Thanks

Petert

 

[elevatorman 724]

we have jcb 1700b for farm use. got cheap as basketcase. has been useful around farm. the 4+4 helps. parts have been harder to get and more expensive but otherwise a good machine

 

[Jake Winn]

I would shy away. You are better off finding a Deere or Case. The company I work for was a JCB dealer for a while. They were a pain to deal with, parts were hard to get for old machines and very expensive.

JCB-Junk Coming from Britian

 

[rob nickel]

Made my living running rubber tire backhoe's for about 25 yr's and for my money there's really no other choice than a Case580. The control's were alway's the easiest to get used to and once you became comfortable on a certain machine it almost seemed as though the thing would practically run itself. Well balanced machine and everything usually worked the way it should, from the way the loader operated on down to the speed of the hydrolic's. Used to really nnalert me off the way you had to wait for the stabilizers to finally find there way to the ground on Cat and JD machines. Maybe not a problem for the type of work you intend to do but a real pain when your running the thing commercially and trying to make a buck.
Lastly. Case dealership's are all over the place and there equipment is real easy to find replacement part's for once you do need them. Maybe not as cheap as some other's but you get what you pay for and you can usually find a pretty good deal on an older used 580K or whatever if you look around a little. My 2 cents worth and you can take it for what it's worth to you. Best of luck to you however you decide, ok?