JCB marks milestone with production of one millionth backhoe loader

And, to make it an even more special day, the team welcomed retired JCB welder Ken Harrison, aged 100, to join in the celebrations. 

The first JCB backhoe rolled off the production line in Rocester, Staffordshire in 1953. 

Called the Mark One, it brought the new wonder of hydraulic power to construction equipment for the first time. 

In the first full year of production in 1954 just 35 of the machines were built and it took more than 20 years for the first 50,000 to be made.

 It took 59 years for the first half million JCB backhoes to be manufactured – but less than 13 years for the next half million to be produced, culminating in today’s celebrations.

JCB now manufactures backhoe loaders in the UK, India, Brazil and it remains of the most versatile and productive machines in the world. 

Despite the maturity of the versatile backhoe loader, it is still one of the biggest selling pieces of construction machinery and it remains the world’s 4th most popular machine in the construction equipment sales league table.

To mark the milestone, hundreds of backhoe loader employees lined the road outside JCB’s World HQ, joining company Chairman Anthony Bamford to watch a cavalcade of 16 backhoes from down the ages. 

These spanned a 1954 Mark I through to a 2025 3CX model.

Lord Bamford said: “I am the only person in the business now who can remember the early days when we first started to make backhoes in what was a former cheese factory in Rocester.

"Looking back at that time, I could never have imagined that we would make one million of these diggers after such humble beginnings. 

"Looking back is a fun thing to do but it’s always been JCB’s way to look forward and I’m looking forward to the production of the next one million backhoes.”

The one millionth JCB backhoe to be produced was a 3CX model, which has been decorated in graffiti art and was presented to Lord Bamford at the celebrations.

Mr Harrison, who joined JCB as a welder in 1952 when only 29 people worked on the shop floor, was also present and is one of the last known survivors of the production team that built the first JCB backhoes, retired 36 years later in 1988.

He earned four shillings and sixpence an hour, the equivalent of 22½ pence in today’s money. He stayed for 36 years before retiring in 1988.

Om his return, instead of clocking on, he arrived in style in the company’s chauffeur-driven Jaguar to join in the celebrations.

When Ken joined JCB, it was to be the start of a family tradition. Thirteen other relatives followed in his footsteps and to date Ken’s family has amassed more than 350 years’ service to JCB. 

He had been brought up as the eldest of eight children at Barrow Hill overlooking what would become the JCB factory half a mile away. Ken was also the forefront of JCB’s European sales drive in the 1950s and 1960s having spent six years in the Demonstration Team driving machines to show to customers and dealers.

Ken said: “We put long hours in at the factory in those days, in fact we almost lived there. I can remember being at work at 5pm one Sunday and I was the only one there when Joe Bamford came in and shouted across to me ‘I’m relying on you Harrison’. 

"In those days, everyone was addressed by their surname. Joe was all right; I really liked him. Everyone was happy and friendly and everyone mucked in in those days. One day you would be welding and the next you would be operating a concrete mixer. You’d be doing all sorts of jobs in those early days, nothing like it is today.

“I remember the time they were extending the factory; it was so draughty you literally couldn’t weld as the weld was just blown away because all we had around us was a giant tarpaulin. We turned our hand to anything and when I was out driving a truck, Anthony Bamford used to come with me when I was out on local deliveries. He would only have been about 11 and it was a real novelty for him.”

Ed Farnley, 24, and Ken’s great-nephew joined JCB six years ago as a Business Degree Apprentice. He works as a Product Specialist for JCB Attachments in Uttoxeter.

 Ed said: “I’m the fourth generation of my family to work here and it gives me a real sense of pride to know that we have contributed so much service to JCB . My great-grandfather John Harrison and my grandfather Colin Farnley both worked here as does my dad Alan. It’s great that we have all been part of the success story that JCB has become over the past 80 years.”