by Kyle Molyneux | Mon 11 Jan 2021
JCB Pothole Pro
The Pothole Pro is JCB’s answer to a crippling problem affecting UK roads. To date, potholes have cost Britain almost £950 million, and the issue isn’t going away. JCB chairman Lord Bamford said, “Potholes really are the scourge of our nation. Our country is quite rightly fixated on this dreadful problem and, as a British manufacturer, I’m fixated on finding a solution.”
Based on a Hydradig, the JCB Pothole Pro features a 600mm planer with rotating teeth (developed in partnership with Simex). At the end of a Tab two-piece boom is a Steelwrist X12 S45 tilt-rotator holding a 590mm hydraulic cropping tool with tilt and depth control, plus a 1.2m brush and bucket. The PotholePro is able to cut a pothole into a neater shape to a depth set by the operator, then remove debris from the area. After that, a contractor simply adds tar by hand then compacts it with a plate. Simple.
During a trial run in Stoke-on-Trent, the Pothole Pro carried out 51 repairs in just 20 days (traditional methods would’ve taken over 60), yielding a 700% increase in productivity. JCB reckons its Pothole Pro reduces the cost of repairing a pothole from £60 to £30. As standard, the JCB Pothole Pro boasts 2/4 wheel and crab steer, reverse steer, a reverse camera, LED worklights, a heated air seat and LiveLink telematics.
READ more about the JCB Pothole Pro and the issues that inspired its creation in the March 2021 issue of Earthmovers Magazine, on sale Friday February 5th.
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