A Cheshire dairy farmer has hailed the longevity of his JCB Loadall telescopic handler after it recently clocked up 20 years and 21,000 hours of trouble-free service.
Alan and Caroline Oakes farm around 560 acres at Stublach farm, between Middlewich and Holmes Chapel, together with their eldest son Anthony, and with occasional help from his brothers Matt and Dan.
Originally, all loading and handling work was carried out by a tractor and front-end loader. They purchased their first Loadall – a 530-70 – in 1999 and 20 years later it is still carrying out general farm duties including feeding, loading muck spreaders, bale carting and in recent years building works.
From left: Matt, Caroline, Alan and Anthony Oakes with their JCB Loadall 530-70.
Choosing JCB at the time was a simple decision, says Anthony, but they never dreamt it would still be performing so well two decades later. “Despite 21,000 hours of productive work and loyal service, it still runs as well as the day it was bought,” he said.
Anthony has finally taken the decision to sell the machine because the installation of an automatic feeding system and fewer building works has reduced the workload.
But a dedicated materials handling machine with the versatility of a telescopic boom will still be used on the farm as the Loadall’s duties will be taken over by a JCB TM310S telescopic wheeled loader bought new in 2010. It is still going strong after 11,500 hours.
