Electric display from JCB 3CX PRO in Northern Ireland

A leading plant hirer has bought one of the first JCB 3CX PRO DualDrive Backhoe Loaders in Northern Ireland.

Purchased by County Down-based P. Smyth Digger Hire, the brand new JCB 3CX PRO has been put straight to work pole planting for electricity cables on behalf of Northern Ireland Electricity Networks (NIE Networks) outside the village of Moira.

Supplied by dealer Dennison JCB, the new 3CX PRO model features DualDrive – JCB’s latest Backhoe innovation which allows the operator to drive and reposition the machine while facing the excavator. It is proving highly beneficial for pole planting operations as well as highways work where the backhoe is now able to operate even more efficiently within in a single lane.

P. Smyth Digger Hire Owner Operator, Ricky Smyth, said: “We do a lot of work with NIE Networks and the DualDrive feature is perfect for our work. We are able to move forwards and backwards from pole to pole without having to twist and turn. This means we’re not wasting time and we’re not blocking the roads as just the single lane closure is required, which minimises disruption to the public.
“We’re very impressed with it. It’s fast on the road which is fantastic too. We do lots of miles – some days nearly a 100-mile round trip – so it makes a huge difference. In this line of work we can’t afford downtime so the service and support we get from our dealer Dennison JCB is excellent.”

The new 3CX PRO model boasts a number of further developments, including a single loader lever to reduce operator effort, revised direction control for quicker and easier use, a return-to-grade function for improved performance, upgraded quickhitch with wider fork carriage and de-bog feature offering simultaneous control of excavator and loader controls.