How To Operate JCB 3DX? Learn Step By Step

The MK 1 excavator had a loader mounted on the front and a hydraulic excavator fitted to the rear. It was the world’s first backhoe loader; one machine that could perform a variety of jobs.

Today, 1 out of every 2 backhoes sold across the globe is a JCB. Over the decades, the world’s most iconic machine has constantly evolved to meet its customers’ changing demands.

so you need to ensure that your JCB is in a neutral position. to put jcb into neutral gear there is a forward and reveres stick provided on the left side of the steering Make sure that this stick remains in the center position.

Because if you shift this stick forward jcb will move forward and vice versa. and engage the hand brake lever by pulling it upward direction. and now you can start the engine by rotating the key just like cars.

So we have to keep one thing in our mind driving you have to keep several. like the position of the stabilizer, front loader bucket and rear backhoe excavator.

1. First, check the front bucket loader arm position and slightly raise the front arm by moving the loader arm and bucket control lever. as shown in the images.
2. Second, your JCB loader bucket should be raised above ground level at a safe height and it should not be more than 3ft because it could block your outside view.
3. The third is to make sure your JCB stabilizer must be released and it should not be in contact with the ground because if you do not release it JCB wheels cannot get enough traction. and Stabliser pedals are located below the boom and excavator control as shown in the images.
4. And last check the position of the hand-operated parking lever. And before operating JCB make sure your engine oil level, engine coolant level and hydraulic fluid level.

After following the above 4 steps you are ready to drive your JCB and now let’s learn?

jcb gear pattern

1. If you are using JCB 2DX or JCB 3DX company has provided a 4-speed gear knob on the right side of the driver and a forward and reverse engaging stick on the left side of the steering.
2. Below the steering, you have two brake pedals one for each side and a foot accelerator.
3. First, move the stick forward and engage the first gear as soon as you do this your jcb will start moving automatically and press the accelerator to get speed.
4. Shift up to fourth gear and accelerate it you jcb can achieve up to 40 km/h speed. and apply the brake to stop the machine.
5. The same thing is for the reverse just move the stick backwards to move jcb in the reverse direction.

We have shown the respective images as per the directions to make you understand better.

And it doesn’t require much practice as well. so this single-gear knob has four functions two are for moving the loader arm up and down and another is for the loader bucket up and down.

So first move the loader lever down by moving the lever forward and then move your lever to the left side it will move your loader bucket in a position so that it can collect the material you want to load like sand and rocks etc. then move your JCB in the forward direction to get digging effect to collect material in the bucket.

After this, you want to drop the material on the truck. so for this move your loader lever in a downward direction it will move your loader arm in an upward direction then drive your JCB to the place you want to dump. and then move the loader lever on the right side to move the loader bucket rotating downwards to drop the material on the truck or place.

And in addition to this, you also have to keep an eye on the place where you are working. but believe me, after following these steps you will be able to learn about operating excavators easily and we have provided some videos also.

So let’s start, so to get a perfect dig first we need to know about the two levers that are provided behind the operator seats along with the stabilizer up/down levers as shown in the above images.

You can see here there are two levers here. Each lever controls up to four functions so the lever you see here in the image on the left side controls the boom function in a cross pattern. like if you want to move JCB 3dx boom left/right then move your gear lever left and right in the respective direction as shown in the images. even the boom-controlling knob has a mark over it for better understanding.

On the other hand, if you want to move your boom in an upward and downward direction then move your knob towards you for the boom to move upward direction. and vice versa.

On the other, an arm and bucket are attached to it. so if you move the right knob on the left side the arm moves up and as you move the knob on the right side the arm moves down. whereas when you move the knob in the downward direction bucket holds the material.

and if you want to drop the material which gets collected in the bucket move the knob in an upwards direction.

So to get a perfect dig to move your boom in the desired direction by following the steps explained above. and move your boom downwards by moving the knob forward.

And then move your right knob upward direction to bring the bucket into the digging position and moves the arm down by moving the knob on the right side.

after that move your bucket arm to collect the material by using the right knob left and in an upward direction.

Here you can see the video we have shown to learn the process we have shown here.

But usually, headlights in tractors remain mounted up front but in a backhoe, loader headlights are provided on the bottom side of the cabin front windscreen along with the turn indicators. the headlights used in the JCB are of reflector types not LED.

Because these machines are not designed for driving on the roads much. on the other hand, tail Lights are also mounted on the back side of the cabinet high from the ground as you can see in the images.

Upfront of the bonnet a black radiator grille is provided which hides an engine radiator and a starting battery. this grille can be opened easily via a latch provided inside the cabin. on the other hand, two metal tanks are provided on either of the JCB bonnets.

Left side metal tank fluid for the hydraulics is stored along with fluid filter and level indicators. and these tanks store 92 litres of hydraulic fluid. and on the right side, you will get a diesel tank of 128 litres. and one more thing as we know that JCB 3dx cabin is high from the ground.

So it’s not an easy task to climb into the cabin. so to solve this problem JCB company has provided metal footrest attached to the metal tanks from both sides. you will get a two-foot rest tank on each side. moving on to the front loader section.

The loader arm is designed in D Shape, the side plate is inside & channels are outside. It resists twisting while entering in a pile making it ideal for tough applications. Whereas The “H” section has a bigger cross-sectional area & more welding area, making it a sturdier & reliable loader arm joint section.

A large Loader bucket is attached to the arm with a couple of linkages. this bucket is able to withstand 1800 kgf payload. to operate the front loader four hydraulic cylinders are attached to the front part. on which two are operating arm and the rest of the two is used to operate the front bucket.

As this is a JCB design for construction so the why cabin interior of the JCB loader is designed to keep this thing in mind. so let’s get inside the machine and experience the cabin of a JCB machine.

Well, I you are thinking that you will get a smart key to this machine just like we usually get with cars. No, you will get a simple key to lock and unlock the JCB. this machine has two doors made up of glass. and two footrests are provided on either side of the machine.

As soon as you get into the cabin you will get a seat that is decently comfortable and designed for multiple uses like. you can slide and rotate the seat to operate the front loader and excavator. and a suspension is provided within the operator seat to absorb the jerks. because JCB doesnt have suspension.

Now I will explain what kind of features you will get? and above I have explained How to operate jcb 3dx? so you will find lots of gear levers around you like on the right side you will get a Gear knob to shift the gear.

And just behind the gear lever you will get a front loader to operate the knob and on the right side of it, you will get a hand-operated parking brake as you can see in the images we have shown here. now moving on the dashboard. a JCB backhoe loader has a different dashboard design as compared to cars.

The company has provided a small dashboard that has a small round analogue speedometer on the left side of the steering and a warning instrument cluster on the centre of the dashboard that shows a light on-off warning. Besides this, a power steering is provided here for easy manoeuvring the matching and it also has a rotating knob to rotate the steering with minimum effort.

Below the steering wheel, two metal brake pedals are provided. two brake pedals mean you can apply brakes on the right side and left side wheels individually by using the respective pedal it’s called skid control. like if you apply the right brake the machine will turn in the right direction in tight space.

And another pedal is for the accelerator. pedals are made up of metal and the JCB logo is engraved over them. and you might be thinking where is the clutch pedal in the JCB? So let me tell you, the backhoe loader comes with an automatic clutch system that doesn’t requires any clutch pedal we will explain it later.

Moving on the right side of the operator seat, a small instrument cluster has been provided that shows engine rpm and other engine information like fuel level and engine temperature level. and a hand-operated accelerator is provided to minimise human effort. you can use it by moving up and down to increase or decrease engine speed.

Auxiliary buttons are also provided on the instrument cluster and the engine starting key slot is also there. Besides this, a music system has been added to the JCB that helps the operator to spend a long duration inside the JCB while listening to music and two speakers are mounted on the roof.

I like this feature because we usually get bored after spending a long time on the machine. Besides this, a small electric fan is also provided inside the cabinet to keep the operator in comfort. Besides this on the top model, you do get an Air Conditioning system as well.

Talking about storage space, you will get a decent amount of storage space around the operator’s seat to carry your tools and papers. and you can use them to sit as well. cabin windows can be opened easily via a hand-operated lever provided over windows and there is no option for electric windows here.

The front glasses of the cabin are tinted which helps the cabin to keep it cooler and reduces the glare of the sun. there is an inner view mirror in front of the operator’s seat to keep an eye on what’s going on behind the machine. besides this, the roof of the machine is designed in a way that it provides maximum comfort during harsh weather climates.

And on the very start of this blog, I explained everything in detail How to operate jcb 3dx? along with respective images.

The basic design is taken from the regular tractors and the company has added hydraulically operates arms, buckets and a spacious cabin the rest of the thing is the same as you can see in the images. and at the beginning of this blog, we have shown the image of a JCB with its part’s name. That will help you to know about the JCB.

One more thing as this is a backhoe loader it comes with fitted with auxiliary lights outside the cabin and the back and on the front of the cabinet other than headlights and tail light. because it’s necessary if you are working at night. it makes it easy to work at night and safe as well.

Besides this, behind the rear wheel, two stabilizers are provided to raise both rear wheels to keep the machine stable during operations. is controlled by the hand-operated levers provided below two levers along with boom control levers.

One more thing this boom can be slide left and right for different operations and boom sliding can be achieved via a button which can be seen on the instrument cluster and that boom can also be rotated 180 degrees as shown in the images. so that’s all about the design of a typical JCB backhoe loader.

On the other hand, for interiors, you will get the same interior layout but there are additional functions and features the company has added to it like, you will get a digital speedometer and gear position indicator. The previous model gets an analogue speedometer.

Moving on to the next instrument cluster which can be seen on the right side of the operator seat, here you will get an analogue tachometer and a large multi-informational display that shows pretty much every information you will require as you can see in the images.

The rest of the thing in this model is exactly the same. you can see them we have shown in the images.

first, let’s talk about the exterior the exterior design is pretty much the same as the other 3DX model but with the extra boom, dipper and bucket is larger than the Plus so it can dig up to 5.05 cu.m or 5050 litres.

on the other hand, it has a high dump height and high shovel capacity you can read above in the table.

Moving inside the 3DX extra jcb you will find one thing it doesnt come with gear gear-changing lever. It’s because it comes with an easy shift transmission system. means a gear lever is replaced by a column-mounted electric reversing shuttle switch and it has a gear selection system.

you can select the speed by rotating the knob and can change the forward and backward direction with the help of it. as you can see in the images we have shown. besides this, you will get air conditioning with this model.

But the biggest change is it only comes with the four-wheel drive system it has front large wheels and the front loader can perform up to 6 functions. on the other hand, it has all the features like 3dx Xtra. Besides this, its dipper length can be increased or decreased depending on the work.

Moving on to the inside of the 3DX super gets a comfortable cabin, it has a digital speedometer and secondary instrument cluster. it has luxury features like Air conditioning, Music system etc. and this model also gets easy shift transmission and you dont get any manual gear lever here. and the rest of the things you can see in the images.

This means it’s more purpose-friendly than the supermodel. on the other hand,e it has the highest digging capacity. and the excavator is centrally mounted like it can’t slide left and right just like the other models. it’s due to its digging capacity and performance.

On the other hand, it has cross stabilizers, not verticle. in my opinion cross stabilizers provide more stability during excavator operations. and these stabilizers fold upwards when not in use. talking about its interiors are the same as the 3dx supermodels.