Harold, David and Berwyn Warlow run a brace of compact JCB 403 wheel loaders on their 300-cow dairy farm and beef unit near Narberth, Pembrokeshire.

Duties for the pint-sized machines include slurry scraping, bedding down cubicles and moving bales, as well as mucking out small sheds and reaching into corners too awkward to access with the farm’s TM320 pivot-steer telehandlers.

See also: Ultimate guide to buying a telehandler 2023

The Warlows took delivery of their first standard-spec 403 in 2018, and a second Plus model with more power and lift capacity arrived three years later.

We caught up with them when the first had got about 1,800 hours on the clock and the harder-worked second machine had just overtaken it.

© James Andrews

Why JCB 403s?

We’ve got a separate beef farm about eight miles away from the dairy with small buildings that are difficult to access.

So when we saw that our local JCB dealer, JE Lawrence & Son, was selling the 403, we thought it would be the ideal machine to work over there. Added to that, the £24,000 price tag made it very competitive against a skid-steer, and the fact it had a steering wheel rather than levers meant anyone could drive it.

The 403’s pivot steering was also an obvious attraction, making it easy to manoeuvre around the sheds, and the high seating position gives good visibility all around the machine.

At the dairy farm we were running a McCormick 55 as a dedicated scraper tractor and we had a compact four-wheel-steer JCB 515 telehandler to run the bedding machine, as well as carrying out other small handling jobs.

Harold and Berwyn Warlow © James Andrews

They were both decent tools, but after seeing how good the 403 was, we realised we could replace two machines with one.

This time we went for the higher-powered Plus version with a turbocharged three-cylinder 48hp Perkins engine – the original has a 25hp four-cylinder Kubota ­– and a larger counterweight so that it can carry heavier loads.

Like the first, we paid a bit extra to have a 30kph transmission so it wouldn’t be too tedious to drive it to the other farm if we needed to.

How have they performed?

Both have gone well and they’ve had no significant problems in the first 1,800 hours or so, despite being used every day and getting caked in slurry. We do try and look after them, though, and they get regularly serviced by JE Lawrence & Son.

The newer 403 Plus is the hardest worked by some margin, scraping out with a 1.8m tractor box scraper that was modified so it could be picked up with the loader’s pin-and-cone headstock.

It also applies EnviroBed recycled paper crumble to cubicles with an Ag Dispenser, moves bales and, because it’s on the same headstock as the TMs, it even picks up full-sized attachments.

© James Andrews

This is where you have to be a bit careful. Sitting in the seat, the 403s feel much bigger than they really are, and the fast hydraulics can lull you into a false sense of security. So, when we hop into one straight out of a TM320 we have to remember not to push them beyond their limits.

As for the cab, this is perched quite high on the machine so you get a clear view of the four corners.

It’s also been well thought out, as both doors can be pinned back in warm weather to let the air blow through.

Come the winter, the Aga-like heater also keeps it toasty warm and prevents the windows misting up.

Although the original 403 gets less use, it’s still a very capable machine. It’s only got about half the power of the 403 Plus, but we don’t really notice it most of the time.

It can also lift surprisingly well considering it doesn’t have the extra counterweight fitted.

© James Andrews

What could be improved?

It’s hard to pick many holes in the 403, but there are a couple of minor upgrades that would be nice to have.

All functions for the loader and the forward/reverse shuttle are controlled from the joystick, but there’s a separate lever for the third service.

It would be handy if this could be moved onto the joystick with the other switches.

Another thing is that the front mudguards don’t stick forward far enough.

We spend just as much time going backwards as forwards, and when we’re scraping in reverse the tyres flick slurry onto the lights.

We’re getting ultra-picky now, but the fact that it’s got a fast top speed means it can bounce quite a bit with a load on the front. Therefore, some form of loader suspension would be nice to have.