JCB’s latest-spec Teleskid telescopic boom tracked loader has been introduced to the European market for a wide range of materials handling applications in agriculture, forestry and groundscare, as well as for industrial and construction tasks.
The US-built Teleskid 3TS-8T incorporates all the unique features of the wheeled 3TS-8W but runs on 450mm wide rubber tracks rather than tyres, giving the machine exceptional traction, increased safe operating load capacity and a gentle footprint for its weight on sensitive surfaces.
Its 74hp JCB DieselMAX engine now meets European Stage V emissions requirements, and the engine’s cooling system is kept efficient by a reversing radiator fan fitted as standard that blows out dust and debris. JCB’s latest skid-steer loader instruments and controls, and the LiveLink telematics monitoring system, also feature on the new machine as standard equipment.
Why a single boom?
Both versions of the Teleskid remain unique among skid-steer and compact tracked loaders in having not only JCB’s patented single Powerboom design with its numerous advantages over traditional twin boom machines, but also a boom that’s telescopic, which gives the machines greater lift height, and load placement and pick-up versatility.
Having just one loader arm, located to the right of the cab, clears the way on the left side for a conventional door, enabling the operator to step on and off the machine easily, quickly and safely – even with the boom in the air.
This is clearly safer and quicker than having to lower the arms and scramble over the attachment to enter or leave the front opening of a conventional skid-steer loader cab. The layout also enables JCB to fit a more than 30% larger, more spacious cab, one that’s easily cleaned out because there are no sunken footwells, and which provides 60% better uninterrupted visibility all around the loader, especially to the left where there is no boom to block the view.
Moreover, the side door is a great time-saver, especially when winter feeding livestock or distributing bedding, which may involve frequently opening, passing through and closing gateways, whether out in grazing paddocks or in and around buildings.
With spin-turn manoeuvrability from two-speed hydrostatic drive, the tracked and wheeled Teleskids are in their element working in confined spaces, stacking and retrieving bales, loading feeders and muck spreaders, and operating bale shredders for stockyard and cow cubicle bedding.
How the Teleskids compare
Both machines are powered by a 74hp, JCB DieselMAX engine, which is notable for requiring no diesel particulate filter (DPF) or diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) to meet latest emissions rules, so minimising running and maintenance costs.
Drive is from a two-speed hydrostatic transmission that also provides steering control by slowing the wheels or tracks on the inside of a turn. The Teleskid 3TS-8W has the advantage of speed, topping out at 20kph (12mph) versus almost 13kph (8mph) for the 3TS-8T.
But the tracked model has the benefit of a 2.1m wheelbase – versus 1.25m – and 450mm wide traction belts, so is arguably a better choice for harsh working environments, such as when tackling woodland and hill-land vegetation control or when conditions are soft underfoot.
The machines are identical in height at 2.1m, have all but identical maximum lift heights at 4.05m with the boom fully extended, and the same 1.7m forward reach at a full-height lift. Boom horizontal forward reach, meanwhile, is enough at 2.25m to load or unload a flat-bed trailer from one side.
Thanks to the added weight and configuration of the undercarriage, the Teleskid 3TS-8T has a 222kg advantage in safe working lift capacity, at 1,705kg versus 1,483kg, in terms of the rated operating capacity, which includes a safety margin over the outright lift performance.
In the cab, there’s a 7in touch-screen display for the operator to choose ISO or H-pattern movements and adjust the sensitivity of the twin JCB joysticks. The display is also used to set fuel-saving timed features such as the reversing fan interval, engine auto idle speed reduction and engine auto stop.
