Holt JCB Dig Days Battle the Elements

On Friday 28th and Saturday 29th November, large South West regional dealer Holt JCB held a Dig Days event which was hosted at The Construction Hub Academy in Oakdale, South Wales.

Image: Courtesy of Holt JCB

The weather did its best to put a dampener on the event, although, the sun did come out on the Saturday, but a steady flow of business owners, owner/operators and operators turned out to get “hands on” with some of the latest JCB products, and to get the opportunity to meet up with senior members of the Holt JCB team, to discuss the machines and any potential equipment requirements they may have in the future.

Image: Courtesy of Holt JCB

I couldn’t make it in person, but our resident Digger Man Blog follower, the sprocket man himself, Ken Hatcher popped along, after he had taken his elderly father to hospital in the morning, to kick some ‘XCML’ tyres, and grab a few photos for us to share.

It will come as no surprise to many, that as a man who has 30 + years of experience under his belt on backhoe loaders, Ken made a B-line for the JCB 4CX Pro that was available to try out. According to Ken this machine did not feature the new style electric servo levers.

Image: Courtesy of Ken Hatcher

He was impressed with its pushing power, especially with four-wheel steering, which enabled it to push around corners with ease. Ken said the back end was ok, but nothing special, and it will come as no surprise that he wasn’t happy with the fact it was fitted with Michelin CL tyres and not his preferred XMCL versions!

Image: Courtesy of Ken Hatcher

Ken’s attention then turned to the 14.5-15-tonne class 145XR compact radius hydraulic excavator, a machine that has been well received by groundworks contractors, especially those involved in the housebuilding sector, thanks to its compact dimensions and powerful performance.

Image: Courtesy of Ken Hatcher

There were two machines available to try out, one fitted with an Engcon tiltrotator and one in the traditional UK specification with a standard hydraulic quick coupler which was the one he chose to try. In typical Ken style, he described the 145XR he spent time on as a very nice machine.

Image: Courtesy of Ken Hatcher

Ken’s day out at the Dig Day was completed with a delicious burger from the Charlie Foxtrot Gourmet Grill catering van and copious amounts of coffee from the team at Holt JCB.

Image: Courtesy of Holt JCB

All in all, despite the horrendous weather, it looks to have been a good couple of days for all those who attended, hopefully there will be more of these hosted by Holt JCB in the future.