JCB unveils new Fastrac 6000 Series tractor
JCB has released details of its new Fastrac 6000 Series, filling the gap between the current 4000 Series (160- 240 horsepower) and the 8000 Series (330+ horsepower).
This year, J C Bamford Excavators celebrates its 80th birthday, but also notes the achievements of current chair, Lord Anthony Bamford, in expanding the company, both in size and global reach.
Most industry watchers know that Joseph Cyril Bamford started the business in a lock-up garage at Uttoxeter, Staffordshire back in 1945. Joseph Bamford didn’t fit the stereotypical image of a penniless soldier who made good, rather he was born to the wealthy Bamford family of Staffordshire, who owned Bamfords International Farm Machinery, founded by Samuel Bamford in 1871.
Bamfords, as it was generally known, had been building a range of farm machinery before the war, including stationary diesel engines and also developed a range of tractor-drawn mowers that it was allowed to produce throughout the war, alongside radar components and armoured scout vehicles.
Returning from service in the Royal Air Force in 1944, Joe Bamford started working for English Electric, then returned to the family firm, but within months left and rented a lock-up garage in Uttoxeter where his first product was a farm trailer built from surplus wartime equipment. Coincidentally, he opened his business on the same day his son Anthony was born, so both celebrated their 80th birthdays on October 23.
Like his father, Lord Anthony Bamford gained hands-on experience in engineering via a three-year apprenticeship with Massey Ferguson in France before returning home to take on management roles within the company. The reason he went to Massey Ferguson might have been the fact that JCB were using Perkins diesel engines, owned by Massey Ferguson at the time. Appointed as chair of JCB in 1975, Anthony Bamford started to expand both its model range and its market reach, alongside the vertical integration of its production.
Two products that were of interest to farmers and heralded the return of JCB to its agricultural beginnings were the Loadall, introduced in 1977, and the Fastrac which arrived in 1991. Both have also been adopted as generic names for the type of machinery they represent – farm materials handlers and high-speed tractors.
Since becoming chair, Lord Bamford has taken the company global with its latest factory being built at St. Antonio, Texas in 2023, a year that saw the company achieve £6.5b in turnover and the sale of 123,228 machines. Today, JCB has 22 plants around the world and more than 19,000 employees, all of whom were given an extra day off to celebrate the anniversary.
As a permanent reminder of the anniversary, Lord Bamford unveiled a blue memorial plaque at the site of his father’s original workshop, followed by a cavalcade of machines introduced under his guidance, attended by over 3500 employees.
