THE world's most popular telehandler hits a major milestone this year – its the 40th anniversary of JCB's Loadall.

First manufactured in 1977 to transform lifting and loading tasks on building sites, the potential for the Loadall to revolutionise materials handling tasks on farms was soon recognised.

With its ability to reach forwards and upwards way beyond the capabilities of tractor-mounted loaders and rough-terrain forklifts, the Loadall brought new levels of efficiency and productivity to livestock and arable farms alike. So much so, that it helped spark a materials handling revolution.

Today, the Loadall is an indispensable tool on many farms, working longer hours than any tractor. On livestock farms, regular chores include filling a diet feeder twice a day with silage and other rations, loading bales on to trailers at harvest, placing straw bedding into cattle and pig yards, and filling the manure spreader when it comes time to clean them out.

On arable units, supplying the drill with seed and fertiliser from bulk banks or the potato planter from tipping boxes are routine tasks for a Loadall telescopic handler, along with loading bale trailers and hauling them back to the store, pushing up grain to make the most of storage capacity, and out-loading crops into haulage lorries when they are sold.

And, there's now a huge range to choose from. JCB’s Loadall factory produces around 50 individual models and distinct variants for agriculture and horticulture alone, alongside many more for construction and industrial use.

They range from the diminutive 50hp Loadall 516-40, with its 1600kg lift capacity and 4.05m lift height, to the 145hp Loadall 560-80, which is capable of lifting six tonnes off the ground for high output repeat loading cycles of bulk materials, and the 9.5m lift 535-95 for when big straw and hay bales must be stacked high.

There's new Smart Power versions of the Loadall 536-60, 531-70, 536-70, 541-70 and 535-95, plus buyers can choose from a wide array of cab equipment and control features in the Agri, Agri Plus and Agri Super versions of the core range.

The newly-expanded Loadall Agri Pro line-up features the DualTech VT hydrostatic-plus-powershift drive system, available on the 531-70, 536-60, 536-70, 541-70, 535-95 and newly released on the 560-80.

Their 'Smart Hydraulics' features have always underpinned development of the Loadall line which made it the world’s number one telescopic handler.

JCB has repeatedly invested in the Loadall manufacturing and assembly facilities at Rocester, notably in 2007 when an £8m project brought a more streamlined assembly line, including robotics to produce the complex chassis structure.

This coincided with a significant milestone – the production of 100,000th handler. But, less than 10 years later, the 200,000th model came off the line.

JCB Loadall production:

* There are more than 30 base models and 1000 individual configurations.

* Each one takes around 35 stages to produce and eight hours to assemble.

* Loadall manufacture consumes more than 35,000 tonnes of steel each year.

* JCB manufactures the engines, transmissions, axles, cabs and hydraulic cylinders.

* A recent £1m investment brought new precision laser and plasma cutting equipment.

* A 650-tonne steel press forms the telescopic boom box sections.

* On average, it takes 45 minutes to make two sides of the heavy-duty chassis and robots handle 70% of chassis welds.

* Welding during their construction consumes 14.5m metres of wire every year.

* The painting facility uses 73,000 litres of primer and 50,000 litres of gloss paint a year.

* Manufacturing components employs 300 people, assembly operations another 460.

* Every Loadall spends 13 minutes at full speed in a roller test booth to calibrate the driveline and must hold a test weight with the boom fully raised and extended for 10 minutes.