JCB 3111 (sloping cab)

[Scooby]

Bob, according to your photos. yours is a 3C. It has the bigger backactor and larger front shovel than a straight 3. Also the longer legs. An altogether heavier machine and we liked the lighter machines for farm work ditching etc. You could get about a bit better when it was wet.

[bobby-gg]

ah, now I'm totally confused!

just remembered mine is badged up as a 3CII, but when I saw the sloping cab in this post I got mixed up because I haven't seen many other sloping cab models around.

Doing you think my back hoe looks all orginal?, particularly around the lower area where the fillet and strap are welded on

[Scooby]

Hello again Bob. Just saved your photo. and blown it up and your machine is an old F registered machine. If this indicates the correct year then it is an August 1st 1967 - July 31st 1968 machine.

I have also noticed that it doesn't have hydraclamps, only the old threaded clamp bolts/nuts. I think hydraclamps were optional at this time. The backactor certainly looks 3Cish and that strap wasn't on there when new. You also have what was known as a deep profile digging bucket on the back. Quite useful for levelling soil using the slew and you could load the bucket well when digging but it was very difficult trying to dig a square-bottomed hole with one of these.

[bobby-gg]

Hello again Bob. Just saved your photo. and blown it up and your machine is an old F registered machine. If this indicates the correct year then it is an August 1st 1967 - July 31st 1968 machine.

I have also noticed that it doesn't have hydraclamps, only the old threaded clamp bolts/nuts. I think hydraclamps were optional at this time. The backactor certainly looks 3Cish and that strap wasn't on there when new. You also have what was known as a deep profile digging bucket on the back. Quite useful for levelling soil using the slew and you could load the bucket well when digging but it was very difficult trying to dig a square-bottomed hole with one of these.

thabks for the info Scooby, I didn't know the hydraclamps were an option, thought it was only the later models had them and by the look of the nut/bolts on there I don't think I'll be moving the backactor from side to side again.

here is the chassis plate if this helps too


URL of the original image: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2679/4189910266_de879c9dcd_b.jpg

thanks again.

[Scooby]

Hello Bob. This machine would have had a Nuffield skid unit and I think that might be the skid unit plate and not the digger plate. Is there another plate inside the cab anywhere that has JCB tattooed all over it ? Incidentally this engine was prone to becoming porous so keep a check on your engine oil to see if it gets slightly milky. Obviously check your water as well, if it looks like Jeyes fluid then it's probably porous. Not a big issue so long as it doesn't get too bad and you aren't going on hire 24/7. I ran one for a few years that was doing that but changed the oil a bit more often than usual. Milky oil/water can also be a head gasket of course. I don't want to appear negative about that engine. They always started well and I actually liked them. Before this JCB used the Fordson Super Major skid unit with the agricultural version of the 4D engine. That was almost bomb proof.

Those manual clamp bolts could be a pain. It's a very big circular type socket that is used to undo them and there are holes cut into the socket to take a big crowbar 6ft - 8ft in length. They can get really tight. Some drivers used to run with them slack so that they could move them across the rails whenever they wanted to but that would make a mess of the rails and get them out of line. I knew a firm that operated a dismissal policy if they caught a driver running with really slack clamp bolts. It made the machine nearly unsaleable when the rails were knacked. This was before we had all this unfair dismissal nonsense.

David.

[bobby-gg]

when I first bought it I just dropped the water out for over winter and left it. Went to use it the other day and noticed that on closer inspection that the block is painted metallic green suggesting at refub unit has been dropped in, the pump also looks like an exchange unit too and all the ancillary units are painted the original yellow.

Problem was the governor was stuck in the wide open position and I haven't got a stop fitted to the pump either, caused a brown trouser moment, but once the rack was freed off it was beautiful - quite a few oil and water leaks on it though.

here is it not quite what it was designed for



oh, and the inside cab plate is missing

here is our other machine running a ford 5000 engine and discussed on the Weatherill page