Advise on buying JCB 3CX

[Al_1977]

I've been looking at 90's models (by body shape... series 3 I guess)... have to admit, I know little about them, so looking for any advise on what to avoid.

Manual boxes, shuttle boxes - not 100% on what to look for there. Also Project 8 and Project 12.... unsure on what those terms mean.

Any advise greatly appreciated to avoid buying the wrong thing.

Budget £15k, VAT not an issue.

Thanks.

 

[diggerjones]

Why restrict it to jcb's. There's lots of others just as good and you will get more for your money

 

[JD450A]

Wouldn't go wrong with this one IMHO, nice machines, about 2k overpriced mind.

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[Gunners]

So there's quite a bit to unpack here. Project numbers are the equivalent to series numbers for land rovers. Any 3cx that age will be shuttle. This is the forward and back lever essentially and it will do it in any gear. Most machines in the P8 era will be manual (i.e you select a gear by using the big leaver in the floor) The only other option here is powershift, where you select the gear using the forward/reverse stalk. Engines and gearbox's are pretty bombproof on these old girls, and occasionally they need a solenoid replacing if they give up going in one direction or the other. Engine choices are turbo or non turbo. Both are good enough for round the yard use, turbo has the edge on road travelling and really hard work (and sound great!)
The front ends are the same on both machines, don't think they changed much really here. Should come with a 4in1 bucket with forks. Check the opening jaw isn't bent or it wont close properly - and the back jaw hasn't been worn down to nothing from scraping snow from roads. Some will have SRS or smoothride for the front bucket. This acts like a giant gyro to stop the machine bouncing so much. Great for road travelling, not so crucial for round the yard.
The back ends probably where the biggest change is. The P12 has rams that slew the back arm. The P8's and earlier have a worm drive gearbox which wear significantly.
The biggest thing with buying any used plant is try and buy the best you can for your budget and not the newest. I doubt you will find many P12's for 15k. And really at that money you are into ropey P8's (they did a side dash and front dash model. Not a lot between them) £15k will get you a very tidy P7 (grey cab) which were highly regarded machines at the time. Although personally I think they should top out around £10k rather than 12 like some of them are on eBay - some chancers think they are like gold dust at the moment!
One more thing, join the Vintage JCB machines page on Facebook. Even if you don't do Facebook, its a really good group full of very knowledgeable people. I doubt there isn't anything they don't know about fixing these old diggers and there are a couple of decent used parts dealers on there too for spares. Plenty of used ones come up for sale too.

Or like Rory says, another brand will get you a lot more bang for your buck.

 

[JD450A]

The back ends probably where the biggest change is. The P12 has rams that slew the back arm. The P8's and earlier have a worm drive gearbox which wear significantly.

Rack and Pinion. Same idea really, two rams move a rack, pinion is tiny wheelie gear. wears a lot and is quite weak as no mechanical advantage.

One more thing, join the Vintage JCB machines page on Facebook.

Just don't bother listening to the egotistical gobshites on there who say everything is too expensive....

 

[Gunners]

Rack and Pinion. Same idea really, two rams move a rack, pinion is tiny wheelie gear. wears a lot and is quite weak as no mechanical advantage.



Just don't bother listening to the egotistical gobshites on there who say everything is too expensive....

But you just said that New Holland in your previous post was to expensive.......

And I stand corrected on the rack and pinion slew. When they are worn you cant stop the back actor flying around, and are over 1k to rebuild.

 

[Regy53]

We just moved this gem on for your budget , fitted new tyres and a few other bits. 4 buckets too a real gem

1998 2800 genuine hours , defo consider other brands

 

[GazCro]

Most 3cx's of age and within budget will have been through several owners and had a hard life. There's more chance of finding another brand which won't have been worked so hard. 3cx's once several years old have always had a strong export value so most still around have usually ended up on a farm where care and maintenance is nil.

 

[Brendan]

7 replies into a jcb buying thread and not one person saying don't, must be some sort of record

Don't know much about them to be any help but whatever you go for have a good look over it, an older machine that's been well cared for will be better than something a couple or so years newer that's had a hard life

 

[GazCro]

7 replies into a jcb buying thread and not one person saying don't, must be some sort of record

Don't know much about them to be any help but whatever you go for have a good look over it, an older machine that's been well cared for will be better than something a couple or so years newer that's had a hard life

To be fair he's looking at the last of the good ones so it's difficult to criticise

 

[Regy53]

This was supposed to go with my post

1998 2800 hours from new

 

[JD450A]

This was supposed to go with my post

1998 2800 hours from new

Fermac.... Was MF, then Fermac, Then Terex painted them white.... Then @APhillips firm painted them Yellow and Black and called them a Mecalac. A Rare thing that a more dated design than a JCB

 

[Jimoz]

What kimd of work are you planning for it @Al_1977

 

[V8Druid]

We just moved this gem on for your budget , fitted new tyres and a few other bits. 4 buckets too a real gem

1998 2800 genuine hours , defo consider other brands

well you gonna show the man (and us) then Ross???

 

[V8Druid]

7 replies into a jcb buying thread and not one person saying don't, must be some sort of record

Don't know much about them to be any help but whatever you go for have a good look over it, an older machine that's been well cared for will be better than something a couple or so years newer that's had a hard life

yeh but we're talking about their star product .... the old BHLs of lore that made them their name

 

[V8Druid]

This was supposed to go with my post

1998 2800 hours from new

well you gonna show the man (and us) then Ross???

ah ..... you did eventually

 

[Al_1977]

Firstly, thanks for all the input people.

Why restrict it to jcb's. There's lots of others just as good and you will get more for your money

Wouldn't go wrong with this one IMHO, nice machines, about 2k overpriced mind. (eBay)

We just moved this gem on for your budget , fitted new tyres and a few other bits. 4 buckets too a real gem

1998 2800 genuine hours , defo consider other brands

Most 3cx's of age and within budget will have been through several owners and had a hard life. There's more chance of finding another brand which won't have been worked so hard. 3cx's once several years old have always had a strong export value so most still around have usually ended up on a farm where care and maintenance is nil.

To be honest, I would buy another brand if a better machine could be had. I'd not thought about that as JCB (to the uninitiated) seems to be well respected and series 1 machines are still around so the assumption is they are reliable and built to last. I'm not going to need it forever so being able to move it onwards without selling at a knockdown price also counts. That New Holland is very tidy JD450A for what I would get 3CX wise.

Gunners, thanks the info and for the breakdown on pro8/pro12 - I couldn't find much on Google to explain that.

Brendan, indeed I thought buying on condition was best. The machines are mostly well over 20yrs old and the hrs dial (I would imagine) isn't something difficult to alter, and with lots of owners - the chances of unscrupulous ownership are highly possible.

What kimd of work are you planning for it @Al_1977

So I bought an old farm a few years back and busted myself (post divorce, which busted me prior to that!)... now I have some money in the kitty, best part of an acre around the house needs landscaping. The house is 170yrs old and needs minor extending. Whole plot is 10acres so general ditching/earth moving all round. Some outbuildings have collapsed, so to to aid in the botch up of them; so I can get planning (in years to come) to hopefully divide the plot and ultimately build a new house from scratch. I also need extra storage for my business (so need forks to unload pallets into barn).... so 3CX seemed the best option for everything. New missus wants a swimming pool too... but she needs to get a bit more "time served" before that's an option. Digger in the yard shows willing in the meantime.

 

[Jimoz]

Sounds right kind of tool for the job

 

[V8Druid]

Sounds right kind of tool for the job

judging from avatar location, I'd guess all pretty flat ground around him so getting about shouldn't be an issue for a BHL ... 'til it turns to a swamp

 

[Al_1977]

judging from avatar location, I'd guess all pretty flat ground around him so getting about shouldn't be an issue for a BHL ... 'til it turns to a swamp

Yes mate, flat as a pancake. Was swamp prior to cold spell... will most likely dry out by end of March. I hope.