JCB .. any good ?

[ianoz]

So what major has gone wrong with it then .. it looks fairly new ?

So , How much room do you have on your servers .. Injector pump at 62 hrs faulty air cleaner housing , putting dust in motor . plastic clip that holds door handle linkage comes off so you can't get into the cab . 3 sets of boom pipework that cracked and leaks. 4 plastic fueltanks that crack and leak. .Drive sprocket bolts that break, vibration in motor , hydraulics that would lose pressure, constant charging problems , computer failure [7 weeks broken down ] boom ram rod snapped off at the piston .All rams leaking . Air conditioner not good enough . Machine overheats {atleast with the bonnet off ,heat can escape the motor and it keeps cool } Hydralic hoses that disappear through the bowels of the machine making finding leaking hoses a nightmare . I have had the fan belt disentergrate into inch long pieces Dealers that don't turn up to do booked in services , Don't send fitter up with service kit when they do turn up . Sales department that have not contacted me since the day it was delivered ..

The machine is a 2004 model sold to me march 2006 so its about to be five work years old Just did the 3750 hour service last week . When it is not playing up it is a good machine to operate . I don't know if JCB sends their problem machines out here to get them out of their hair .the other machine they sold ,had ALL the problems mine did .Reason my machine was not sold until 2006 was it was uded to keep the first one in spare parts .We are a week to get parts from UK ,or in the case of my computer 5 weeks ..

Mate bought a new 3CX a few years ago . Engine rebuilt at 50 hours constantly snapped back axles . He ended up With the front tail shaft {4WD} pulled off to stop it breaking axles .Sidecovers and bonnet off to try and keep it cool .He got 400 hours on it in 12 months . He was lucky that he kept his old machine and was able to keep using it ,he was going to sell it privately ... They have never asked me to do an endorsment for the brand ,wonder what i would say if asked .Ian .

[Muz]

Jesus thats a fair list, and not just niggles either. I must admit Ive never been a fan of them, yet my next door neighbour has had 3Cx's for I dont know how long ?

When I had the 5 on Demo, the computer had this stupid function that when on the lowest power setting, if you went to draw back the dipper and lift the boom at the same time, nothing happened ? wtf ?

I know what you mean about the hoses .. the valve block was behind the operator, and every hose was about 3 m long and they were all grouped together, looked tidy, but maybe not so good for fault/burst finding.

JCB pride themselves in the quality of their ram manufacturing .. but I could tell you a few stories about them .. On the boom ram, was it the boss on the head of the rod that snapped off ?

[ianoz]

No Mate , It was the piston end inside the ram . I would have said it was impossible to break . Good old JCB proved me wrong . I need to replace the bucket ram rod as the chrome has come off and it leaks . The dipper ram is leaking too , so no doubt the hydraulic place is going to tell me that rod is buggered too . All ready had 2 seal kits through it .But the complaints i made about the machine where listened to apparently ,as the new model now has the control valve at the front of the machine .The muffler ,that is right beside where you sit[ Just great in the Aussie Summer } and next to the battery now is at the back of the machine . I had a 1995 4CX that the mainlift ram on the hoe bent . buggered the rod and the cylinder .. The 1999 3 CX we have , had pitting on one ram rod that that had to be replaced .Ian .

[Dan]

I'm sorry but pitting or rust on rams is unforgiveable and just shite engineering IMHO .. they wont put enough chrome on the rams pure and simple, I know the teflon ones are more expensive but Ive yet to see any of them fail

[Muz]

Plus they dont look as nice

[JD450A]

Good News -

Had the morris leslie service engineer on a call out today to look at the incredably stiff breaks on my JCB 531 telehander (I drive for a 8hr day min, and yes my knee is currently hurting like...) I thought there was a problem with the breaks considering that the slightly larger 535's I've driven in the past will stop with barely any pressure on the pedal.

Sadly though the engineer has another more likely conclusion - JCB don't fit assisted brakes on the 531 basic model. Wonderful, I want to go back to the nice matbro TS250 I spent my apprentership on, the Brakes where silky, the levers (although there where 6) where nicely laid out and simple, and the artic steer was easy. :(

[Dan]

Did you spec the machine ? or somone else ?

[JD450A]

It's a Hire machine, sadly spec'd and ruined before I arrived at this job. on the bright side it's better than a teletruk but I'm pretty sure I'll need a knee replacement when the machine needs a 500hr service :P

[mogman]

Castner Kelner 031.jpg

[Garry]

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Reminds me of one of my Estwings .. nice hammer

[ianoz]

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Moggy , Nice to see you . The back good enough to swing one of them yet ? Ian .

[mogman]

Moggy , Nice to see you . The back good enough to swing one of them yet ? Ian .

alas its been parked up for a week now ozzy but on the mend now i hope

[ianoz]

The wicthcraft and many sharp needles sticking out of the human pin cushion do any good ?
Ian .

[JD450A]

The wicthcraft and many sharp needles sticking out of the human pin cushion do any good ?
Ian .

Like a hedgehog, perhaps investing in a JCB 8014 would of been a better idea to swing that hammer... na it'd make your back worse.

[Muz]

perhaps investing in a JCB 8014 would of been a better idea

Nooooooo dont do that ...unless you are a masochist