jcb 3cx landshuttle

[grant]

hi i was watching a video on you tube and saw a silver 3cx and wondered if anyone knows anything about it also does anyone have a decent size pic of it

[jcbjs220]

Yeah the machine is owned by HE Services. Built in 1989, the machine broke the speed record for a mechanical digger to drive from John O Groats to Landsend. I know that since that Cat and Case both said that they had beaten the record set by Hugh Edeleanu (think thats how you spell it!!) but when they looked into it both Cat and Case used more than one driver. Anyway after hearing this Hugh went out again to set a record and actually beat the first time. I cant remember what the time was origonly, but the second time was 22 hours and something set in 1997. I remember being a kid and him actually being on GMTV!!! That was one of the highlights for me, being a kid who was always facinated by JCBs and getting to see that on tv! And 7 years later i was actually working on that very machine! Also, my old boss Peter Tann was the engineer that followed the machine, and carried out the required maintenance on it as it carried out its record attempt. I do have some pictures around somewhere. i will try and find them....think they are on my old laptop, so when i find them i will post them up!

[jcbjs220]

As promised here are a few pictures (ignor my mate in the cab!!)













As i say these were taken back in 2004....and as you see the machine was looking a little sorry for itself! It averaged 40mph when it set the record the second time round, and going round the estate road testing that was immense! And it even had a trainer seat in it!! Now it is often seen with HE's display team. (infact the 3cxs in the background were also for HE services!!)

[Martyn Henley]

That machine sat on top of the office block at their main office at Strood for years ... am i right in remembering that it had Fastrack running gear ?

Martyn

[grant]

Hi thanks for the pics and info looks like an interesting machine wish my digger went that fast yea it could be doing with a wee tidy up is that the people who own diggerland

[jcbjs220]

I thought it was the same axle as the military axle, in terms of the way the machine brakes it was the same as a normal 3cx, with "wet" brakes inside the axle trumpets. I dont know if its simular to the early fastrac axles as never had anything to do with them?

Yeah its the same group that owns diggerland. Infact they do a wide range of things, diggerland, display teams, sign writing, make all their own quick hitches and most of their attachments aswell as selling a lot of machines abroad......at one time when i was at greenshields, he bought about 30 brand new 3cx sitemasters (unusal for HE as they always run contractors) and all of them went to their depot and went stright out to Dubai. I was told that he could actually sell them cheaper out there than what the JCB dealer there at the time could!

[grant]

those back wheels look like they could be from a fastrac they look like 30" rims as fitted to fastrac so i suppose it could be a fastrac axle etc i'am surprised nobody has tryed to beat the world record since 97 i didn't realise h e services were such a big company we were on holiday in yorkshire a while back not far from diggerland so we went was quite a good laugh must cost them a fortune for insurance i would imagine