JCB launched its new 419S Agri wheeled loading shovel at the SIMA machinery show in Paris this week.
According to the company, the latest addition to its line-up completes a “comprehensive update of the world’s largest and most capable range of loaders”.
The machine, which replaces the 418S Agri, has been purpose-built for agricultural applications and is claimed to provide “increased performance and greater traction and stability from a longer wheelbase”.
The unveiling of the 419S Agri also completes the roll-out of the CommandPlus cab across the firm’s “heavy-duty” wheeled loading shovel range.
The power-to-weight ratio is bolstered by “increased power and torque” from the 6.7-litre Cummins 6-cylinder engine, which meets the latest emissions rules using only an AdBlue-injecting SCR system and integrated diesel oxidising catalyst (DOC) to clean up exhaust gases. There is no DPF filter.
Peak power has increased 5% to 183hp, delivered to the wheels via the existing ZF six-speed powershift. According to JCB, a low first gear delivers “exceptional pushing performance”. Together with torque converter lock-up in all gears, this reportedly gives “greater clamp-climbing ability in low ratios”.
Top road travel speed is 48kph. This, says JCB, enables the new loader to keep pace with other machines in a contractor’s silage-making or manure-spreading team – travelling from one farm to the next.
All-new chassis design
An all-new front and rear chassis design, longer wheelbase and bigger axles enable larger tyres to be fitted for greater traction – or for better flotation. In fact, the 419S Agri can run on the same 750/65 R26 tyres that are fitted to the flagship 435S Agri.
The new axles are available with limited-slip differentials front and rear, to help maintain traction when conditions get slippery underfoot; a new auto-locking diff can be installed on machines likely to operate in especially challenging conditions.
A load-sensing piston hydraulic pump delivers up to 180L/min. Up front, the 419S Agri can be equipped with ‘Standard’ or ‘High Lift’ loader arms for either maximum break-out performance or better lift height clearance. Load-over heights range from 3.48 to 3.71m; the 419S Agri has a full-turn tipping load of almost 6.9t.
JCB wheeled loader operators moving to the newcomer might notice that the CommandPlus cab is 15% bigger than the previous design, with “improved visibility and controls”, including a choice of air suspension seats, windscreen roller blinds, heated external mirrors and a 12V power socket.
There is also a new joystick and multi-lever hydraulic controls, both of which feature a thumb-operated shuttle switch and provide proportional control of loader functions. JCB also claims that the windows demist faster than before.
The JCB Agri wheeled loader range includes five bulk-handling models, with operating weights from 8.7 to 20t. These are designed primarily for hard-surface operations, in bulk stores for example.
There are also three machines for field and yard applications such as digging out and loading manure and climbing silage pits. These are the newly-updated JCB 413S Agri, the new 419S Agri profiled above and the existing 435S Agri.