JCB at the Indiana State Fair 2007

[IBH]

I think this is the best place to put this?
Ive found a video on Youtube of JCB at the Indiana State Fair 2007 which includes a 3CX centremount doing some showing off, a 524-?? Loadall and a JCB HMEE (the High Mobility Engineer Excavator)- the very large backhoe loaders designed specially for the US military.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEJhfH1JTTg

[Robban_C]

That HMEE doesn´t seem that impressing. Big front bucket but the excavator bucket is almost the size that I have on my own EC35.
The length of the machine makes it look quite unwieldy.
A typical American machine. Big but not thinking.

http://www.huddig.se/index.php?option=c ... 63&lang=en
A backloader with lots of potential. Big wheels and high ground clearance gives very good off road capability. Articulated steering makes the machine flexible in crowded areas. Lots of digging power on the backhoe and lots of loading power on the front bucket. An optional 14 or 20 m lift for electrical works. 50 km/h transport speed. Lots of extra hydraulics and hydraulic capacity from the factory makes it perfect for custom made applications and aftermarket tools such as rotortilts or GrabJohns, two accessories that are very common on those machines in Sweden.
Personally I don´t like backhoes at all but the Huddigs have a very good reputation for making high performance machines that almost never fails.


But I´m impressed by the driver in that 3CX(?). I would have wet my pants in that situation.

[IBH]

The JCB HMEE is quite an impressive machine that has been specifically developed to satisfy the needs of the US armed forces:
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THE HIGH MOBILITY ENGINEER EXCAVATOR (HMEE).
The Fastrac tractor, launched in 1989, was the first agricultural tractor that could cope with rough terrain and travel on roads at speeds of up to 50mph because it had a full suspension chassis and ABS anti-lock brakes. Using this proven technology, JCB designed and developed the HMME to the specification of the US Army’s Tank, Automotive and Armament Command procurement organisation (TACOM) , who wanted a machine capable of road speeds of up to 55mph (80kph) coupled with the versatility of a backhoe loader, four wheel drive and four wheel steer.

Following the development of the machine, JCB was last year awarded a contract, expected to be worth up to $140m, to supply the US Army with this high-speed backhoe loader for military engineering tasks. The award of the contract followed a three-year programme of design, development and testing to produce a military machine to meet stringent performance criteria. This week the first six production machines were delivered from JCB’s USA plant in Savannah, Georgia, for validation tests. Full production will commence in 2007 and deliveries are scheduled to continue until 2012.

The HMEE combines the capabilities of the world-renowned JCB backhoe loader and the innovative high-speed JCB Fastrac agricultural tractor. The objective of the HMEE concept is to have a machine capable of being part of a high speed military convoy without the need for transportation by a truck and low-loader trailer.

The 12 tonne HMEE boasts a 6.7 litre diesel engine, four-wheel drive, four-wheel steer, lift more than 2,000kg and dig to a depth of almost 4m. It is designed to be air-transportable by Hercules C-130 aircraft.

From:
http://www.battle-technology.com/this_issue04i.html

Pages 10 and 11 are about JCBs growing range of military equipment.
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Huddig machines look very impressive but I cant see them catching on in the UK (the same was said about mini diggers!) even though they have an importer called Artcom Tradebridge (http://www.huddig.co.uk/) who offer the Huddig range in the UK and have exhibited the machines at the annual Site Equipment Demonstration (SED).
The UK plant market is quite conservative and often slow to embrace new ideas with the price of a machine being a big influence in purchasing decisions.

The smaller 9 tonne 1060 would be more suited to UK tastes I feel, but still lacks some of the preferred configurations seen on other backhoe loaders sold in the UK such as sideshift backhoe assembly oppose to the what appears to be a centremount on the Huddig, a telescopic dipper, 6 in 1 loader bucket etc.

Huddigs might do well in upland areas such as Scotland but if UK operators feel the machines are too expensive and that they cant get good dealer support they will look to other manufacturers such as Case, JCB, Terex, Volvo etc.
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) here in the UK operated Hydrema backhoe loaders for a time.

[Robban_C]

80 km/h? That´s impressing! I didn´t know that.
And 4 wheel steering is good but not as good as articulated steering.

And it doesn´t matter how good a machine is if the importer isn´t supporting it.
And yes, Huddig is expensive.

[IBH]

A promotional video from JCB for the HMEE:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=aYYYXayhxHE