At a special event at its World HQ in Staffordshire, Northwest England, last week (ended 16 Februrary 2023) JCB unveiled significant upgrades to four of its skid steers, bringing them into the Stage V era. Upgrades include a new JCB DieselMAX 430 engine delivering 55kW (74hp), more torque and reduced fuel use; a17cm (7in) touchscreen display for easy access to machine settings; electro-hydraulic auto bucket levelling as standard on Teleskid; soft-touch control buttons in vertical cab pillar position; and revised cab structure for improved all-round visibility.
The upgraded large platform machines are the 270 skid steer, its tracked counterpart the 270T, the JCB Teleskid 3TS-8W. Also announced was an upgrade to the small-platform 155 wheeled machine.
iVT editor Tom Stone was at the launch and spoke to Georgia Pedley-Mackenzie, a business degree apprentice at JCB, to find out more about the new vehicles.
JCB’s 270 wheeled variant and 270T tracked loader have rated operating capacities of 1.25-tonnes, with near-identical load over heights of 2.9m and 2.88m respectively. The Powerboom single arm has a vertical lift path on both machines.
The Teleskid 3TS-8W has the single-arm design that is used by all JCB skid steers and compact tracked loaders, but with the additional benefit of a telescopic boom, providing additional load height and forward reach. With a maximum lift capacity of 1.45-tonnes, the machine has a maximum full height of more than 4m with a radial or vertical lift path. JCB’s Smooth Ride System boom suspension is also standard.
Emissions compliant
The 3.0-litre JCB DieselMAX 430 engine achieves EU Stage V emissions compliance through a highly-efficient combustion chamber design, a diesel particulate filter (DPF) and cooled exhaust gas recirculation (EGR). There is no requirement for a diesel exhaust additive such as AdBlue. The engine produces the same 55kW (74hp) output as its larger 4.4-litre predecessor, despite being 24% smaller and 30% lighter. It also generates 10% more peak torque at 1,500rpm, with increased torque throughout the rev range.
In addition, operators can ensure optimum fuel economy through the activation of the JCB Auto Stop feature, that shuts down the engine, if safe to do so, after a pre-set period running at idle.
Cab improvements
The biggest change to the side-entry cab is a vertical soft-touch button cluster on the right-hand cab pillar. This sits above an engine speed dial and the starter key and below the 17cm (7in) touchscreen display. The radio, with Bluetooth mobile connectivity, sits to the left of the operator, alongside controls for the heating and cooling, orange beacon and hazard lights.
This redesigned interior layout increases the glazed area within the cab, improving forward visibility by repositioning buttons and instruments in mouldings to the top left and right of the cab. The B-post design has also been remodelled to improve the view to the left of the machine.
A wider roof window makes it easier to see a fully raised bucket or fork carriage, while additional seat rail adjustment allows operators to sit closer to the front window to see the outer edges of an attachment. In addition, the Teleskid is equipped with a standard rear-view camera and bright LED work lights, both of which are optional for the fixed boom machines.
The touchscreen not only provides operators with essential machine status information, but can also be used to adjust settings that fine-tune the performance to suit different operating conditions. New MyChoice control functions include being able to set maximum forward and reverse speeds in 1kph increments, the ability to choose one of three acceleration rate settings for the hydrostatic transmission and four power management settings. Operators can also choose two settings to determine joystick sensitivity and customers can select between ISO and H-pattern control layouts, to suit individual operators.
A mechanical suspension seat with cloth and vinyl upholstery, increased travel and lumbar support, along with more comfortable arm rests, is standard on the 270 and 270T. An air suspended seat is included on the Teleskid and available as an option on skid steer models.
