‘JCB’ has become a universal term for any form of yellow digging machine from a tracked excavator to a wheel loader.
The term JCB is actually an acronym for the company’s founder, Joseph Cyril Bamford.
A man with a fascinating life story, leaving the RAF at the end of WWII, Bamford set up his workshop manufacturing and repairing agricultural trailers.
In fact, he is credited with manufacturing Europe’s first hydraulic tipping trailer.
The JCB backhoe that almost everybody is familiar with was born out of a culmination of different JCB inventions.
Firstly, Bamford invented the ‘Major’ front end hydraulic loader, another European first, in 1949.
This was mated to another Bamford innovation, the world’s first hydraulic backhoe, to produce the MK1 excavator in 1953. Using an agricultural tractor, a Fordson Major skid unit, to provide the engine, transmission, and cab, the MK1 had an orange loader in front and orange backhoe digging attachment at the rear.
Then in 1963, JCB launched the 3C backhoe in its renowned yellow livery complete with slanted ‘JCB’ decals and the rest, as the say, is history.
Fast forward to 1985, and after many updates of the JCB 3, the 3CX SiteMaster was launched.
Its name saying it all, the backhoe was deemed king of the construction site offering outstanding versatility and high levels of operator comfort. The SiteMaster was quickly updated with the ‘white cab’ models making way for the black cab, and on to the grey cab models of the early 90’s.
Launched in 1990, the 3CX SiteMaster ‘grey cab’ was powered by a four-cylinder turbocharger Perkins engine producing 80hp. JCB’s torque converter transmission provides 4F/R gears as well as an electro shuttle, built around JCB’s Max-Trac purpose engineered backhoe axles. A declutch button was also built into the loader joystick.
Key to this 3CX was the six-in-one bucket, which was also self-levelling, complete with flip over pallet forks, as well as the ExtraDig sliding backhoe extension giving 1.7m extra digging depth. The front loader has an impressive lift capacity of 2.7tons.
Ever considerate of the operator, JCB offered the backhoe controls in classic four-lever, three-lever with foot swing pedal, or twin lever configurations, ensuring that operators of all vintages were catered for. The cab boasted 5.5 square meters of glass, a Viking Bostrom seat and even air conditioning.
The SiteMaster proved to be a resounding success, and is a dominant part of JCB’s portfolio to this day. In 2025, JCB’s one millionth backhoe rolled off the production line, making it a global leader in backhoe production.
Contact Peter at psob1987@ gmail.com or see Instagram @ flashphotoscork
VITAL STATISTICS
Tractor
JCB 3CX SiteMaster
Horsepower
80hp
Engine
Perkins 1004 THR
Years of manufacture
1990-1994