JCB celebrates 80 years with limited edition Loadall

JCB is celebrating its 80th birthday at the Agritechnica show by exhibiting a special edition Loadall telescopic handler featuring a unique eye-catching colour scheme.

The JCB Loadall 542-70 AGRI Pro 80th Anniversary Special Edition is finished in satin black throughout, except for contrasting yellow wheel rim pinstripes highlighting JCB’s traditional colour, and chrome decals. Just 40 examples are due to be built for farmers and contractors across Europe, alongside 40 JCB 4CX Pro Dual Drive backhoe-loaders, making 80 celebration machines in all.

Joseph Cyril Bamford CBE found the company on October4 23rd on the day his first son Anthony – now Lord Bamford, JCB Chairman – was born. His first products were tipping trailers for farmers, and then tractor-mounted hydraulic loaders, later combined with a rear-mounted excavator to form the ubiquitous JCB backhoe-loader, used on construction sites worldwide. 360-degree excavators and wheeled loading shovels followed, and the pioneering JCB telescopic handler arrived in 1977.

The JCB Loadall helped transform materials handling tasks on farms; clearing, loading, moving and stockpiling agricultural inputs and produce changed from hand-labour and tractor-based loaders with no forward and limited upwards reach to telescopic boom handlers providing highly-efficient, highly-productive bulk handling.

Operators of a Loadall 542-70 80th Anniversary edition will be reminded daily of JCB’s remarkable record of innovation by prominent external decals, an “80” badge at the centre of the steering wheel and specially embroidered carpets and seat.

Inside the spacious Command Plus cab, owner-drivers and operators will enjoy air conditioning and a half-leather heated and ventilated air suspension seat, while a comprehensive external LED lighting package will allow confident working in and around farm buildings during dark early mornings and late evenings.

The 4.2 tonne capacity, 7 metre lift Loadall features JCB’s 129kW (173hp) 4.8-litre DieselMAX engine, and a 50kph version of JCB’s award-winning DualTech VT part-hydrostatic, part-powershift transmission.