JCB’s 3CX ‘Pothole Master’, designed to effect long-term pothole repair quickly and efficiently
In a move that appears tailor-made for South Africa, Kemach JCB is distributing a special edition of the world-renowned 3CX backhoe loader, designed as a single-machine solution for urban road maintenance.
The JCB 3CX has for many years been the most versatile machine on site and backhoe loaders remain popular with many local authorities and road repair contractors.
The front end of the Kemach JCB 3CX Pothole Master sports a 2.3 m wide hydraulic sweeper collector shovel with enclosed brush. One or two passes of the planed area is enough to provide a clean work area that is ready for repair and relaying of asphalt
Now JCB has combined the powerful, high specification 3CX with a dipper-mounted patch planer and a sweeper shovel located on the front loader arms, to create the 3CX ‘Pothole Master’, designed to effect long-term pothole repair. This single machine offers local municipalities and road contractors a rapid, mobile solution to meet their permanent road maintenance equipment needs.
The Pothole Master is powered by JCB’s highly efficient Dieselmax engine, which is available to meet Tier 2 and Tier 3 emissions standards. The engine delivers 92hp (68kW) with the option of a 100hp (74.5kW) version if preferred. Both engines drive through a proven JCB Powershift transmission to rapidly move the machine between sites, without the need for additional transport, increasing utilisation and ensuring maximum productivity throughout the day.
The 3CX Pothole Master is equipped with a 400 mm wide patch planer from JCB Attachments, that has been engineered to work efficiently with the machine’s high output auxiliary hydraulic service. Advanced Easy Control variflow hydraulics, with servo control levers are available, ensuring an ergonomically superior driving environment and provide the power to deliver total control over all functions of the backhoe when planing. Pressure compensated variable flow hydraulics ensure maximum power delivery to the planer attachment, while maintaining complete control of all boom and dipper functions during operation.
The patch planer is suitable for a wide range of applications, from single pass small pothole repairs, to complete highway sections. JCB’s powered side-shift capability ensures that the operator can plane the full width of the machine, without having to relocate the backhoe loader, which is essential when working in a single coned-off carriageway. The planer provides a clean and well prepared working area, ensuring a long-term pothole repair, rather than a temporary solution to the problem.
At the front end of the machine the 3CX is equipped with a 2.3 m wide hydraulic sweeper collector shovel. The overall width, including the hydraulic motor, is within the width of the machine, making it easy for the operator to travel safely on the road. The sweeper shovel’s enclosed brush, which uses an integrated mix of plastic and wire brushes for maximum durability, provides clean pick-up of road planings with minimal dust and no risk of material being thrown away from the machine. One or two passes of the planed area is enough to provide a clean work area that is ready for repair and relaying of asphalt. The brush enclosure also greatly reduces any dust as the shovel is tipped into road tippers, for removal from site.
JCB has incorporated a hydraulic lift feature that moves the brush canopy away from the bucket. This allows the operator to use the bucket to collect planings from larger areas and to let operatives manually load the bucket in tighter spaces. Being able to lift the brush canopy away from the shovel, in combination with the machine’s standard long loader arms, makes it easier for the operator to load over the back of a tipper truck, again essential when working within a single carriageway width.
JCB’s innovative hand-held power tool hydraulic circuit, mounted on the side of the 3CX Pothole Master, allows operatives to use a wide range of hand-held breakers and saws, to cut around ironwork in the road and to provide a clean end to the patch area. This also allows the road repair crew to access difficult areas that cannot be reached by the patch planer.
Traditionally, urban and rural authorities as well as contractors have had to use a wide array of cutting, breaking and planning machinery, with separate road sweepers and rollers to carry out even the smallest of pothole repairs. The single backhoe loader-based solution greatly reduces the number of machines required to carry out this type of work, reducing cost and increasing utilisation for the local authority.
Smaller tools and machines have to be carried to site on additional tipper trucks and delivery vehicles, while the JCB Pothole Master can carry out road repair preparation and then rapidly move independently to the next site.
A further benefit of the Pothole Master, is that when not being used for road repair duties, it is possible to remove the attachments and operate the 3CX as a versatile backhoe loader. This ensures that the customer can achieve maximum utilisation, without having to have additional machines that are only used on a seasonal basis.