JCB Loadall 525-60E telehandler: Getting the handling buzz

Three years ago JCB started to make its intentions clear that it was set on moving towards zero-emissions machines. The first example was a battery-powered 1.9t mini-digger claimed to be capable of matching the performance of its standard diesel-fired sibling.

Next came the news in mid-2020 that the Staffordshire firm was working on something with far more explosive potential – an electrically-powered 20t excavator equipped with hydrogen fuel cells. A year later the company announced it had alternative plans for hydrogen – its engineers had developed a version of its conventional DieselMax internal combustion engine capable of running

on the universe’s most abundant element. In the meantime JCB’s R&D teams have been working away in the background to develop more battery-powered machines – a Teletruk fork-lift, access platform, dumper and powerpack. Of most relevance to farms is a version of the firm’s compact 525-60 Loadall. Borrowing technology from German forklift giant Jungheinrich,