Always a company to make the most of marketing opportunities, JCB has partnered with America’s Monster Jam and produced its own monster truck called the DIGatron, for obvious reasons. The truck made its first appearance in January at a Monster Jam event at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. A second unit debuted in front of a large crowd at the London Stadium, Stratford, UK on Saturday.
JCB’s DIGatron monster truck makes its European debut with a flying start
JCB head of industrial design Ben Watson and his team worked with Monster Jam’s expert engineers to produce the 5,443kg DIGatron, which is 3.2 meters high, 3.8 meters wide and an overall length of 5.2 meters and is powered by a purpose-built methanol supercharger. 1,100 kW (1,500 HP) Monster Jam engine.
The big truck uses a four-link racing suspension with four main rods connecting the front and rear steering axles to the frame. The truck rides on nitrogen-charged shock clusters that offer 762mm of suspension travel with four specially designed 1.7-metre diameter x 1.1-metre wide BKT tires inflated to 23 psi.
Taking a dive
The unit also features a “symbolic” loader at the front and a backhoe arm at the rear, incorporating some components taken from the JCB backhoe assembly line. The truck was driven to victory at the 2023 Monster Jam World Finals Racing by racing champion Tristan England, who hails from Paris, Texas.
English at DIGatron won the racing and skills races. But during the final freestyle competition, he “overcooked” it and flipped the truck on its side to add to the show and was unharmed. The truck was lifted onto the tires with two JCB wheel loaders, a 437 and a 457, equipped with special lifting arms.
A JCB “recovery” wheel loader comes to the rescue
The catalyst for the company came from eight-year-old Otis Bamford, grandson of JCB chairman Anthony Bamford, who lives in the US with his mother Alice.
Anthony Bamford with grandson Otis and DIGatron driver Tristan England
JCB is now Monster Jam’s official heavy equipment partner, and its machines have been used to create the dirt track with all its jumps at the London Stadium this week. The London audience was also treated to a ‘JCB Dancing Diggers’ show featuring four 3CX backhoes, two 531-70 telescopic handlers and two 270T compact track loaders.
The Monster Jam event at the London Stadium featured three separate heats featuring the DIGatron, Grave Digger, Megalodon, Black Panther, The Amazing Spider-Man, El Toro Loco, Iron Man and Thor monster trucks.
The JCB Dancing Diggers display included two telescopic handlers
The London Stadum Monster Jam event also saw the start of a special long-term partnership between JCB and musician Joe Walsh’s VetsAid charity which helps US military veterans. His song “Dig It” with brother-in-law Ringo Starr on drums was played heavily as the JCB DIGatron entered the arena for the first time.
