JCB machines, over the years, have been synonymous with any civil construction work requiring digging, loading, breaking and compaction.
However, there is one product i.e. the JCB Telehandler which is functionally different, as it is essentially a material handling machine.
The machine essentially has two main components – the tractor unit which makes it capable of moving from one place to another and the hydraulically operated telescopic arm, at the end of which various attachments can be fitted to make it more versatile. All this makes the JCB Telehandler a versatile material-handling machine with myriad applications. With its unique Q-Fit mechanism, the changeover of attachments is quick and hassle-free, thereby increasing its versatility multi-fold.
Applications of the JCB Telehandler can be grouped under three sectors
- Infrastructure (Roads, Highways, Civil works etc.)
- Agriculture and
- Process Industry
Presently in India, JCB is manufacturing three variants
Infrastructure Sector
In the Infrastructure sector, JCB Telehandlers can be found in roads & highways, tunnels, bridges and building construction projects as well as in RMC Plants and stone crushers. Some of the applications of JCB 530-110 Telehandler in Road and Highway Construction Projects are -
- Unloading of Aggregate construction material from the cargo hold of trucks with the unloading rake.
- Stockpiling of Aggregate construction material at worksite with its 1.0 cubic meter bucket.
- Intra-site shifting of pre-fabricated structures (under 3-ton weight) with its Jib Crane attachment.
- Lifting Stone Blocks and Fly Ash Bricks to height with its fork.
- Providing a safe working platform for 2 technicians (and 250 kg welding equipment) with its Man Platform Attachment - to do shuttering/welding work under the bridges and flyovers.
- Site stripping work with its 6-in-1 clam-shovel bucket.
Process Industry
In any process industry, there is a feeding of raw material, which after processing gets converted into a finished product. JCB Telehandler is used at both ends i.e. raw material handling & feeding and handling of the finished product. Let us take the example of one such industry – metal scrap recycling.
In a metal scrap recycling unit, the JCB Telehandler i.e. the JCB 530-110 with unloading rake can unload the metal scrap from the cargo hold of the truck in 20-30 minutes and store it in a heap as high as 11 m, thereby saving space. When production is in full swing, the same JCB530-110 now fitted with a 1.0 cu.m bucket can feed the raw material onto a hopper. Once the finished product is ready in the form of metal billets on pallets, the same JCB 530-110 now fitted with a Fork can load the billets onto the trucks. The result is that with a JCB Telehandler, the productivity of a metal scrap recycling unit gets increased multi-fold.
Similarly in any paper manufacturing unit, the JCB Telehandler with its grapple bucket can unload scrap papers from trucks, store them in heaps and finally feed them to the conveyor belts for conversion to pulp and subsequently new reams of paper. Hence, in the process industry, the JCB Telehandler essentially expedites the product process thereby helping the industrial unit increase its revenue multifold.
Agriculture
In Agriculture and agro-product handling, the JCB Telehandler is helping farms and agro-product units increase their productivity and profitability.
Take the example of Paddy cultivation. Once the paddy crop is cultivated, the upper husk becomes raw material for any industrial unit using boilers for steam generation in an industrial unit. The husk becomes fuel for the boiler. However, without a JCB Telehandler, it will not be possible to effectively unload the husk at the industrial unit, make its heaps to save space and then feed it into the hopper.
Nowadays, Biofuel plants are coming up in various parts of the country which handle rice husk in huge quantities, and feed them into fermenters to generate Bio-fuel gas (which is as good as CNG gas available at fuel outlets). After the gas is generated, the husk ultimately becomes manure for use in agriculture fields. The JCB Telehandler in a Bio-Fuel Plant can give a huge boost to its productivity by handling husk bales, stacking them at heights, feeding them onto a hopper and after fermentation, handling huge quantities of manure and loading them onto trucks.
Every sugar mill generates huge quantities of Bagasse as a by-product, Without the JCB Telehandler, it would be difficult to do turning operations on the bagasse, make its heaps and load them onto trucks.
As the country progresses, the JCB Telehandler will become more and more utilitarian among these three sectors and lead to better productivity and efficiency.