JCB celebrates digger milestone

The first backhoe rolled off of the production line in Staffordshire in 1953 Credit: JCB

JCB today mark the production of the half a millionth backhoe loader also known as a digger.

The first one rolled off the production line in 1953, these are the machines JCB are most famed for and the machine that helped to establish the company in the construction equipment market.

The first backhoe rolled off of the production line in Staffordshire in 1953 and was called Mark One, the first time hydraulic power was used in construction.

In 1954, the first full year of construction, only 35 of the machines were built it then took over 20 years to make a further 50,000.

Today is very different with one JCB backhoe rolling off of the production line every three minutes.

Today JCB Chairman Sir Anthony Bamford said:

Despite the backhoe being one of the oldest JCB machines it still is one of the biggest selling pieces of construction machinery in the world.

JCB backhoe loaders are manufactured in the UK, India and Brazil it is sold in 120 different countries.

The JCB backhoe is one of the most famous pieces of machinery even becoming the subject of a song in 2006 which reached the top of the charts.