Holt JCB Stole the Royal Cornwall Show

My blog posts this week will be largely dominated by our visit to the Royal Cornwall Show last week, this major event in the Cornish calendar is always a great show for customers, operators and general enthusiasts of construction machinery.

I swapped things around this year, as once inside the vast Wadebridge showground, I headed for the Holt JCB stand, where I always receive a very warm welcome, and I knew there were going to be some BIG attractions.

Dominating the stand was the recently launched JCB 370XLC the latest addition to the hugely successful X Series range of hydraulic excavators. Competing in the 35-40-tonne sector, the 370XLC is powered by Stage V Cummins 6-cylinder engine producing a power output of 240kw.

Holt JCB's Sales Director Richard Egan reported a significant number of orders for the new model across their sales region, with numerous blue-chip customers putting in orders for the machines, and excellent feedback from customers who have tried the machine out during visits to JCB’s test quarry in Staffordshire.

JCB also went large on the stand presenting the JCB 457 Wastemaster loading shovel the largest wheeled loader in the JCB range. With an operating weight of 20,192kgs, the machine is powered once again by a Stage V emissions compliant, Cummins 6-cylinder diesel engine which in this application has a power output rating of 210kw, this unit was fitted with the Ulrich high-tip bucket, with a load capacity of 3.5m³.

Other machines of note on the stand were the mine tonne class JCB 86 C-2 which is destined for one of my former employers, the MJL Group from Helston, Cornwall.

Also on stand was this JCB 531-70 telehandler which has been purchased by the Toldish Group Ltd, and which was a focal point for a guess the number of balls in the dumpy bag charity fundraiser, ahead of Holts Paul Butchers Lands End to John O’ Groats charity cycle, but more on that later this week.  

But the undisputed stars of the show, were JCB’s official Dancing Digger display team who performed twice a day across the three-day duration of the show.

Holt JCB Ltd added a bit of a local twist to the display, by arranging for machines from no less than 6 regional customers to be included in the performances, which was fantastic to see, the machines included, 2 x 531-70 tlehandlers from Farwell Plant Hire & Groundworks, 3CX Pro from P.R. Weldhen, 3CX Pro from MH Groundwork, 3CX Plus from Acland Plant Hire, 3CX Pro from MJL Group, and 3CX Pro from TA Hoskins. The team put of some amazing performances and the main arena seating was packed out for every show.

JCB Dancing Diggers team photo below.

Check out my highlights video below, unfortunately I have had to remove the original soundtrack due to You Tube copyright issues.