Ken Gets the X Factor as he Visits JCB

Wed 17 Apr 2019

Ken Gets the X Factor as he Visits JCB

On the day of his visit it was up early for Ken, 5am to be precise, when he left his home in South Wales and headed up the M5 and M6 before cutting across country to head for the JCB VIP Visitors Centre in Rocester, Uttoxeter. As is traditional, on arrival he received a very welcome cup of coffee and tucked into some biscuits, which was very welcome after a long drive. He and his fellow attendees then headed into the theatre for the unveiling of the new machine.

Ken and the guys were then invited to board the coach which would take them to JCB’s quarry a short distance away from the World Headquarters site. On arrival at the quarry the gathering were treated to a demonstration of the new machines by JCB’s own team of demo operators.

Following the demo the lads were invited out of the grandstand for that all important “stick time” opportunity. Ken said, “I had been looking forward to this part all day, I work for Gloucestershire based KW Bell Group who run a significant fleet of JCB hydraulic excavators, so I was keen to see the improvements that have been made to this new range. If I was being totally honest, I have never really been a big fan of the JCB excavator range, so this was going to be an interesting day. First up for me was a spell on the new 131X before moving onto the 140X”.

Talking about his experience on the day Ken said, “It was very interesting to discover that these new machines are in a different league compared to the older models, from the time you enter the cab it feels like it’s a quality product!”. And to operate its amazing, light levers, which I’m a big fan of, so smooth, responsive and quiet too, I loved the cab layout and oh that seat is really comfortable. We never really got enough time in the seat to get a real feel of the power, but I’m sure there is plenty of it on offer when needed, if they get the reliability right, I am convinced they are onto a winner with these X Series machines!” “We then headed back to the JCB Visitors Centre for very nice midday meal which was very tasty” said Ken. In the afternoon the group were taken upstairs to The Story of JCB museum, which Ken described as being a fantastic experience! “It really was great to look at all the old JCB equipment in what appeared to be a fully restored showroom condition” he said.

Rounding off an action-packed day it was time for a tour of part of the factory, Ken said, “I found this tour very interesting, all the friction welding, plasma cutting and the painting, its good to see how its all done”.

With the tour completed it was time to head off and having received a nice corporate gift from the JCB team, Ken was back in his car for a long drive back to South Wales. Concluding Ken said, “I would like to thank JCB, Dan Smith the Social Media guy, and Nick for helping to get me on the trip, I really appreciate it. I think JCB have a real winner in the X Series!”.

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