MSC103T - Ready For Action!
This page shows a set of esnaps (scanned photos) of the almost completely restored MSC103T taken in April 1998.
1. This first esnap shows very clearly
the new cab that we built for MSC103T. Getting a genuine JCB cab to fit to it
wasn't practicable, so we were forced to make our own. A cab is a necessity for
a JCB, as without shelter from the weather the electrics will not work reliably,
and the driver is likely to catch cold!
2. Another view showing the
profile of the new cab from the front. Our cab was built around the
home-made roll-cage built by the previous owners, and is therefore
somewhat safer should the machine roll over than the original cab
would have been. Note our spare JCB back-buckets riding around in
the front bucket - a real touch of authenticity!
3. A classic shot of a JCB in
action (sort of) with it's back arm fully extended. A 1970s JCB is very
ruggedly built, with thicker metal and bigger hydraulic rams than today's
models, presumably to be on the safe side in the days before computer-aided
design practices.
4. An end-on back view showing the
back arm in more detail, as well as the slider rails that allow it to work right
or left-handed from the back of the machine,and also the feet that brace it when
digging. As you can see, we posed it for these pictures on a very bright day!
5. The last picture in this set shows
the JCB being driven back to it's parking position in the lorry yard where it is
stored. The vast expanses of glass in our home-made cab can clearly be seen. Less
obvious is the sheet steel around it that we spent weeks cutting to fit and
fastening onto the frame, after which the glazing was done by a plant glazing
company in a single day! At the time of writing (January 2001) the JCB is still
in good working order and was used only 5 days ago to dig out a small pile of ash,
weeds and rubble as a favour to a friend.
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