Backhoe The founder of the JCB company, Joseph Cyril Bamford, holds the honour of being the only non-American in the U.S. construction industry's hall of fame. The American company Hy-Dynamic, a division of Bucyrus-Erie, introduced the second purpose-built American-made backhoe loader in 1959, the Dynahoe Model A. It offered a 14,000 lb. operating weight, 14-foot dig depth, and was powered by either a 65 hp Continental flat-head "Red Seal" 6-cylinder gasoline engine, or starting in 1961, a Detroit Diesel 353 diesel engine. The gasoline engine was phased out in 1964, with only diesel-powered units produced from that point on. The company
Joseph Bamford initially worked for English Electric developing electric welding equipment in Stafford. A short return stint with the family firm proved too stifling, and his Uncle Henry released him, saying he thought Joe had "little future ahead of him." After selling Brylcreem for a short while, in October 1945 Bamford rented a by 15 ft lock-up garage for 30 shillings (= £1.50) a week, and made a farm trailer from scrap steel and war surplus Jeep axles, using a prototype electric welder bought for £2-10s (= £2.50). He opened for business on the day his first son, Anthony, was born, and