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Ed Yeates reportingAn American manufacturer is building one of the most unique pieces of construction equipment ever designed for the Army.
It's a backhoe loader like you've never seen before, and Army reservists, including those from Utah, could soon be using it in Iraq and Afghanistan.
JCB, the Savannah, Ga., company that really invented the backhoe is building this latest machine called the HMEE.
If you see it coming down the road, get out of the way. In field tests last year, the operator had no trouble taking the HMEE at 60 miles per hour down the highway, passing other traffic.
And speed doesn't change when it goes off road.
Steve Dabb at Sandy's Bonneville Equipment Company is one of many JCB representatives who saw the demonstrations. He says, "Most pieces of equipment are really designed to go 15, 20, 25 miles per hour, so to be able to have a transmission handle with that kind of equipment is unbelievable."
Military construction battalions can move quickly to a site. Though a monster of a backhoe with full armor, it has incredible grace.
With both two- and four-wheel drive and independent wheel movement, the machine can turn tightly in a circle or even move sideways like a crab. "So if you had a tight space you need to get in or out of, the vehicle's capable of doing both," explained the backhoe operator.
With computer controls, operators can rapidly change from one maneuver to another.
In combat, Chris Saucedo, with the JCB Military Products Division, says, "We've pushed it, pulled it, shot at it, blown it up, and it continues to set new standards for liability and ease of maintenance."
From the new, ominous backhoe to much smaller machines, the technology just keeps getting more and more impressive.
With agile track-skid steering, this guy can work comfortably on steep grades, like we have here in Utah. Dabb says, "You're talking about 60, 70 percent grades that they're going up, and not just going up, they're going sideways and it's not slipping."
The backhoe is powerful, yet gentle. "You can drive it across people's grass and so forth, and it will not tear up the ground," Dabb says.
We can hardly call them just bulldozers and tractors anymore.
JCB will build 800 of its new backhoes for the Army under a contract worth $209 million. There's an additional $20 million under negotiation for a four-year service contract.
