The JCB X Series now becomes the ‘Next’ Series, with three new additions to the range
Now more than infrastructure investment is essential to our future growth, with the government’s industrial strategy, ‘Building a Britain fit for the Future’ setting out ambitions new plans. In housing, the target is for 300,000 new homes, a further £1 billion investment has been set aside to improve our digital connectivity, whilst our roads will see a five year strategy pumping an eye watering £25 billion into the sector.
The common denominator across all of those diverse industries is that they will need the tools to complete the job, and that’s where the extensive range from JCB comes in – a portfolio that has recently seen some new additions. Three new models in the 13-16 tonne sector – the 131X, 140X and 150X – join their larger siblings the 210X and 220X, which were launched last year.
“The machine of choice for groundworks has always been the 13-16 tonne excavator” declares JCB Chief Innovation and Growth Officer Tim Burnhope said. “They are quite simply the workhorse of the building site; digging footings, pouring concrete, grading hardcore or gravel and laying asphalt.” Indeed, in the UK alone, this class of machine accounts for nearly 60 per cent of all tracked excavators sold, which means these latest machines are likely to become a very common site on a host of projects.
This is a unit that shares the same DNA as those previous launches and are direct replacements for the popular JS131, JS130 and JS145. At 2.5 metres wide, the new models allow the installation of the much larger CommandPlus cab seen on the 220X, providing 15 per cent more space. Significant protection is offered by the ROPS frame, and noise reductions of up to 68 per cent have been achieved in comparison to the previous JS130. The operator also benefits from seat mounted servo levers, with a new command pod to the right of the seat that brings together all switches and controls in a single seat-mounted unit.
The three new machines take on the stronger X Series appearance, with fuel and hydraulic tanks now mounted inside secondary body panels. All service access doors are double-skinned with zinc-plated contact surfaces for improved durability. The hydraulic tank also includes a new baffling system to reduce oil aeration and the 2,000-hour filter life of the larger X Series models, up from 1,000-hours on the previous JS models.
A revised counterweight boasts two purpose-designed impact points on the corners and along the lower edge to keep damage to an absolute minimum. The X Series models can be ordered with heavy-duty belly plates, side impact protection and a heavy-duty dipper arm with wear plates if required.
These models use the British manufacturer’s proven global boom and arm design, although the 140X and 150X have a larger bucket cylinder to deliver an 11 per cent increase in bucket tearout force. The power boost duration has also been increased from three to nine seconds, giving maximum bucket and dipper tearout for longer. To match these improvements, the hydraulic oil cooler size has been increased by 15 per cent for superior cooling performance wherever the machine is working in the world.
Construction Plant News will be publishing an extensive machine appraisal of the three new machines in the X series range in our May edition.
