STANDING OUT FROM THE CROWD

As David Wylie reports, GBSS Civils and Plant Hire has invested in a new JCB 3CX Pro backhoe loader painted in a stunning livery

Based at High Bonnybridge in Stirlingshire, GBSS Civils and Plant Hire was established by the husband-and-wife team of George and Fiona Burns in 1994, with a used 13-tonne excavator. Today, the family-run, multi-disciplinary firm undertakes civil engineering and groundworks projects, together with offering plant hire, across the central belt of Scotland. This is in addition to increasingly providing pre-construction value engineering, construction, commissioning and maintenance services.

Stars of the GBSS mass muck-shifting fleet are the latest GPS-equipped Komatsu dozers and excavators, plus various other excavators also equipped with 3D guidance systems. The fleet also includes excavators fitted with Prolec rated capacity indicators, which feature height and slew limiting. All their excavators are equipped with a green seatbelt light and a twinlock quickhitch, and pallet forks are available for machines above 13 tonnes.

A long-term customer of dealer Scot JCB, George started the firm as an owneroperator with an old JS130 excavator bought from his previous employer for just £25,000. With the support of Scot JCB, he went on to rack up an impressive 19,000 hours on this machine. It was during this time that George took the decision to expand the fledgling business significantly by acquiring a second machine, a greycabbed JCB 3CX backhoe loader. He said, “I was once given good advice: the hardest decision I’d make in the plant hire world was to double the size of my fleet, going from one to two machines, and it was right. Attracting and retaining good operators is an ongoing challenge, but one that we relish. We’re sitting with 75 machines in our fleet at present and the vast majority of experienced operators are on our books.”

Backhoe Loader

In the capable hands of operator Sandy Morgan, a JCB backhoe loader plays a key role in the machinery mix of GBSS. We met George and Sandy at the Calderwood village development scheme, to the west of Edinburgh. GBSS was the civil engineering and groundworks sub-contractor to

Morrison Construction for the recentlycompleted Calderwood school complex. It will provide primary education for 460 pupils, together with over 120 nursery places. GBSS continues to work in the rapidly expanding community on a residential housing site on behalf of Tough Construction.

George continued, “It’s fair to say that smaller rubber-tracked diggers are very popular machines on many construction sites nowadays, as are rubber ducks. That said, there’s still a place for a versatile backhoe loader, as long as you’ve got a good operator to get the best out of it for the client. I’m pleased to say Sandy is one of those operators.”

For the last five years, Sandy has been working at Calderwood on a limited edition 3CX backhoe, as George continued, “The JCB 3CX 70th anniversary model was displayed and bought at ScotPlant 2016. It now has 9600 hours on the clock and has performed well. It’s still a very tidy-looking machine that we are planning on restoring to as-new condition.” It will join George’s 1972 JCB Mk3 backhoe loader.

To save time and money on its restoration, the 70th anniversary model will get the factory-fresh 4-in-1 front bucket from the firm’s new JCB 3CX Pro backhoe. Sandy’s new mount is equipped with the bucket from the anniversary machine that, despite 9600 hours, is still in good condition.

Replacing an iconic 70th anniversary model with a standard yellow machine would be a bit of a disappointment, so George and his graphics guru designed a stunning black, red and gold colour scheme. Scot JCB’s painter took over a week to repaint the entire machine, suggesting his own additions along the way, such as the red power stripe on the engine bonnet.

George said, “I must compliment Scot JCB’s Glasgow branch for the magnificent black and red paint job, and our own graphics guy for the brilliant looking gold decals. In general, Scot JCB’s service support is second to none, and we’re looking forward to getting another six years of good productive service from the new 3CX Pro backhoe loader.”

Versatility

As George said, the key to running a backhoe loader in a modern plant hire fleet is its operator, in order to provide a truly versatile resource to the client and able to undertake a wide variety of tasks at a moment’s notice. On this housing site, Sandy was doing just that. Site dumpers were loaded using the backhoe, while the larger capacity front bucket was used to load trucks and to keep the gravel stockpiles neat and tidy.

The front bucket can be easily detached, allowing the pallet forks integrated into the quick-hitch to be flicked down. Ideal for unloading, stockpiling and transporting palletised building blocks and other materials around the site. The loader arms feature JCB’s Smooth Ride system, which provides dynamic hydraulic suspension of the load being carried.

Given that some parts of the site were still in the muck-shifting phase, Sandy and the 3CX were also deployed to keep the tarmac access roads safe and tidy. The 4-in-1 front bucket was used to scoop up the majority of the material, then a hydraulically-driven brush was attached to give the road surface a final clean.