Game Changing Dual Drive

Taking a look back at this article previously published in Earthmovers, and bringing it to life on the internet with alternative photos and video.

Based in Bodmin in the heart of Cornwall, Hoskin Plant & Civils Ltd is a third-generation family-run business established in 1964, but its roots go back as far as the 1950’s when the current managing directors’ father and grandfather respectively, Victor Hoskin, started his own construction business.

Victor Hoskin purchased his first backhoe loader in 1964, and these versatile, and highly mobile multi-functional machines have remained as a staple in the fleet ever since, and today they are still running 7 examples all from the JCB stable.

When Victor retired his son Trever Hoskin and his brothers took over the reins, with the formation of a new business T. A. Hoskin & Son, and in 2017 Trevor’s son William joined the firm. The business has continued to expand and has since been rebranded as Hoskin Plant & Civils Ltd, with Trevor and William both sharing the managing director’s duties, who are now the only members of the Hoskin family involved in the operation.

Running as an operated plant and groundworks firm, the company works for a wide range of businesses throughout Cornwall and currently run a fleet of 12 machines, largely dominated by JCB, but in addition a number of Hitachi hydraulic excavators.

The vast majority of Hoskin’s work is undertaken with CORMAC, a long established and respected sub division of Cornwall Council a good working relationship that has been going on for many years, although they do sometimes undertake other work for farmers and private clients from time to time.  

Never ones to rest on their laurels, the company were most recently looking to purchase a new machine as William explains, “We had seen the JCB Dual Drive 3CX Pro which was relatively new, and having spoke to our local Holt JCB Sales Manager Paul Butcher, we have a great relationship with the team at Holt JCB and we quickly realised that the price was right, so we decided to try it, its early days at the moment, but so far we have been very happy with it, the concept certainly seems to make some tasks a lot quicker and easier and our operator absolutely loves it”. 

We travelled down to Truro in Cornwall to see the machine in action, on Phase one of the new £47.5m Northern Access Road (NAR) project, a 3.4km stretch of single carriageway road, which will stimulate housing development work in the Langarth area of the city.

When completed the NAR will provide connections to the existing A390 and the Langarth Park and Ride car park. There will be a part signalised gyratory junction between the NAR and the A390 road at its western end. While at its eastern end the NAR will connect to Treliske hospital and the local retail park.

The new machine is on hire to main design and construction contractor CORMAC where its Dual Drive capabilities are already proving its worth according to operator Matt Taylor.

Matt Taylor (26) who in his spare time is a regular player from Bodmin RFC, has been working for Hoskin Plant for around six years, operating a wide variety of machines but with a special affection for the backhoe loader. It’s probably fair to say that Matt was a driving force in the decision to purchase this machine as he explained, “So we had a demo unit to try out down here, and I was so impressed with it and the possibilities it presented, that I kept badgering them and eventually the right deal came along, and we finally got this one on the fleet”.

Talking about his experience so far with the Dual Drive 3CX Pro Matt said, “Well the word game changer is often overused these days, but in this instance, there’s no other way to describe it really, it improves what we do in everyway really, on this job for instance we are doing a lot of kerb laying, so I’m laying out concrete, lifting the kerbs in place, backing up with concrete, and with the dual drive feature, I’m quite simply able to operate from the rear facing position, so in many ways you can work like a rubber duck, in terms of picking up and placing materials”.

Matt continued, “Its also a lot safer, as you can see here I’ve been lifting shutters, and still be facing the lift rather than being in the forward facing driving position, with the shutter hanging off the backend, but when facing the load and moving the machine forwards you can make small movements to ensure that the suspended load remains controlled at all times, it may sound trivial but it makes a massive difference to all-round site safety”.

One thing I found really refreshing about this was that Matt is, in relative terms, a young man to be operating a backhoe loader, as the vast majority we meet these days are older guys often past retiring age, simply because a lot of the younger generation aren’t too keen on operating a backhoe loader, more often than not preferring to stick with the 360 degree excavator, Matt commented, “I do love a challenge, and when operating a backhoe you do have to think a lot more about what you are doing in terms of positioning the machine to work for certain applications, much more so than you would have to on a 360^o excavator, it definitely keeps the old brain cells active, which is great, having said that, the dual drive opens up a whole new way of working with a BHL”.

The machine which replaced a standard 3CX model on the fleet that Matt was operating, has been deployed on a wide range of tasks on site including not only the kerb work, but drainage excavation, topsoiling of verges, trimming up stone for the road, and everything else in between, so true to backhoe loader form, a bit of everything for this Swiss army knife of a backhoe loader.

Watching Matt go about his work on this site was like poetry in motion, making every task look easy, safe and accurate, he had quite clearly very quickly embraced the benefits of the dual view concept to full effect, as he spent large parts of the day running the machine facing to the rear, however we did also witness him putting the front bucket to good use as he trimmed up a ramp to a tipping area in a different part of the site, further demonstrating the versatility of the BHL.

It was clear to see that Hoskin’s are clearly impressed with the Dual Drive concept, and I would not be surprised if more are to follow as machines on the fleet are upgraded in the future.

JCB DUAL DRIVE

The 3CX Pro Dual Drive is powered by JCB’s in house-built Stage V emissions compliant, 4-cylinder 4.8 litre diesel engine which produces a power output rating of 81kw (109hp) @2200rpm.

The Scandinavian inspired Dual Drive feature opens up a whole new way of operating a backhoe loader, bringing it bang-up to date in the 21st century, once mastered an operator will never look back to the old traditional ways of backhoe loader operation.

Other upgrades to the BHL range include a Return to Grade function on all machines fitted with servo controls. Using this system enables the operator to set up the 6-in-1 front bucket for grading work. To set this up, the operator activates it via a switch on the console, opens the clam shovel, before sharply moving the loader lever to right like you would say on a return to dig function. By using this feature, the bucket automatically stops the shovel rotation at its optimum angle for fine grading work.

JCB has also upgraded its integrated quick hitch with forks. As we all know using bucket mounted flip-over forks can be a painful experience, especially when trying to use them at ground level where visibility is virtually impossible, and you are effectively relying on guess work to enter the forks into a pallet.

Talking of visibility, JCB are now offering a twin camera and screen option with the integrated fork system. An anti-misting camera mounted within the quick-hitch frame provides superb visibility of the forks and the load to be moved, much needed when at ground level, with a second camera

mounted in the roof provides a view of the quick hitch bar, a 7” colour screen inside the cab offers the operator the option to view either camera as it suits him.

With the optional front quick hitch, not fitted on this example, you can drop off the shovel and use the machine for dedicated fork work.

Capable of a load capacity of 2,000kg the fork carrier has been widened by 220mm to improve stability when carrying wider loads. The forks now sit outside of the carrier frame, making it easier to reach them, and stow them after use, something I have always struggled with in the past!

Hydraulic pipework couplings have also been relocated for improved access when changing, and rubber mounts have been introduced between the forks and the frame to eliminate that all too familiar rattling that we have all had to listen to over the years, a simple but very effective and welcome addition.

JCB has always been at the forefront of innovation over the years, and having recently passed the 80 years in business milestone, that mindset will surely continue in future years.