When the construction equipment industry descended on Las Vegas for ConExpo 2026, multiple new mini excavators were on display by various major manufacturers including Caterpillar, Kioti and Wacker Neuson.
But attendees at ConExpo missed one of the latest mini excavators to hit the U.S. market, simply because it wasn’t there. In this episode of Iron Insider, we’re looking closely at that machine: the JCB 25Z-1.
JCB — traditionally not an exhibiting manufacturer at ConExpo — brought the new model from the European market to fill a horsepower gap at the smaller end of its lineup.
The 2.5-metric-ton 25Z-1 is light enough to be towed behind a half-ton pickup truck and has zero tail swing for working in tight spots. The next-generation model runs on a 24.7-horsepower Kohler diesel engine that JCB says reduces fuel consumption by 5% over previous models and does not require diesel exhaust fluid or diesel particulate filter to meet Tier 4 Final emission requirements.
To dive deeper into the 25Z-1 and understand its place in the U.S. market, Iron Insider sat down with JCB Product Manager Lee Tice. Check out the episode above to learn all about the 25Z-1 and how it compares to some of the top-selling mini excavators on the market, via Fusable's latest EDA equipment finance data.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel for new Iron Insider episodes every five weeks, along with weekly videos on the latest in construction equipment, work trucks and pickup trucks — everything contractors need to get their work done.
00:00:01:02 - 00:00:24:24
Ben Thorpe
Over the last few months, we've seen a flood of new mini excavators hit the US market at 2026 alone. Equipment world editors covered major launches including Coyote's first ever MK series, Caterpillar's one ton 301 kr and Whacker Noises next gen E.T 40. But one new mini excavator wasn't on the show floor in Vegas. And that's what we're talking about today.
00:00:24:25 - 00:00:29:06
Ben Thorpe
The all new two and a half ton 25 Z1 from JCB.
00:00:29:08 - 00:00:37:01
Lee Tice
Directly seeing that machine being pulled into us by our dealers, we're saying we want the 25 Z. We see it in the other regions. How can we get it.
00:00:37:06 - 00:01:00:24
Ben Thorpe
Freshly brought over from the European market? The 25 Z1 is the 11th mini excavator in JB's US lineup. It's powered by a 24.7 horsepower Kolar diesel engine that cuts fuel consumption by 5%. And because it doesn't require deaf or deaf owners, benefit from a machine that's easier to maintain in a two and a half tons, it's still light enough to tow behind a half ton pickup.
00:01:00:26 - 00:01:07:20
Lee Tice
But we do see it having a big footprint in the rental segment. But then the utility sector is another place we see.
00:01:07:26 - 00:01:21:16
Ben Thorpe
To give us a deeper dive into this new machine and why it's now appearing in the US market. We sat down with one of JB's product managers, Lee ties. I'm Ben Thorpe and you're watching The Iron Insider.
00:01:21:19 - 00:01:38:01
Ben Thorpe
Today we have Lee with us from JCB, and we're here to talk about a particular product, which is the 25 Z1 zero Tail Swing mini excavator. Can we just start with a quick two minute overview, what it is and what's important about it?
00:01:38:04 - 00:02:00:25
Lee Tice
So we did launch, like I say our two and a half ton mini, our 25 Z. So we launched that this year at Ara in Orlando. Extremely excited to have that product here in North America. So our kind of home base launched that machine in Europe about a year ago. So we evaluated the market, said, hey, is it right for North America?
00:02:00:25 - 00:02:33:16
Lee Tice
And we were actually seeing seeing that machine being pulled into us kind of by our dealers, by our sales staff were saying, hey, we want we want the 25 Z. We see it in the other regions. How can we get it? So we did our evaluations, and it's a really exciting product for us because there's somewhat of a next generation of many excavator to our lineup gives us that kind of new architecture of machines, a new cab, new hydraulics, everything that we've been working on in the background, things we've been requesting are now on the 25 Z, and we're looking to roll that out into our other models within the range as well.
00:02:33:18 - 00:02:50:22
Lee Tice
The 25 Z does have a a dig depth of ten feet and a weight of just over right at 6,000 pounds. So it's one of those that be mindful of it. If you're mindful of towing those kind of requirements that you have, but it is still a performer in the market, and we do offer a full range of attachments for it.
00:02:50:23 - 00:02:56:07
Lee Tice
High and low flow auxiliaries, just full range of attachments there that we can support the machine with.
00:02:56:07 - 00:03:05:20
Ben Thorpe
And maybe the most key question, which is who is this machine for and and why is it for them in your mind? Who's the ideal end user here?
00:03:05:23 - 00:03:28:27
Lee Tice
So with a machine of this size, obviously we've still got the 35 Z, which is the most popular kind of size class of mini excavator. But it gets a little heavy right. So we talk about some of our our homeowners that maybe want to stop by a rental house on the way home on a Friday and pick this machine up and pick up a machine that they can tow behind a half ton pickup truck.
00:03:28:27 - 00:03:49:19
Lee Tice
So this two and a half ton machine fits that class. So we do see it having a big footprint in the rental segment, kind of the independent rental company, small mom and pop rentals that people are going to stop in grab this machine. Like I said, standard equipment, no special licensing required. But then the utility sector is another place we see.
00:03:49:19 - 00:04:15:11
Lee Tice
So a lot of our utility contractors, they're got a lot of gear on trailers. They're towing spools of wire, maybe it's pipe, whatever it is. And this machine really fits their needs with the capacities, the small footprint and big depth of the machine itself. So it's kind of that split application machine where if it's into many different sizes, we get some of our landscapers, maybe they want to put two machines on a trailer.
00:04:15:12 - 00:04:43:08
Lee Tice
So you're going to take your skid steer, you're going to take a small mini excavator. The one two ton machines might not be big enough. This machine is kind of right in that slot of being able to put two machines on a trailer and not have to worry about over waiting your trailer or things like that. So one other exciting thing that we did not mention about this machine being small machines, a lot of times we do not see air conditioning in these machines, so you get canopy or cab.
00:04:43:08 - 00:05:03:02
Lee Tice
We actually designed this 25 Z to have air conditioning. So it's one of those things that we're thinking, operator. Comfort people sitting in the machines longer each day. So our 25 Z cab machine will actually provide that comfort of air conditioning. We're in South Georgia right now and it's about 90 degrees outside today. So it's something that we can we can all appreciate.
00:05:03:07 - 00:05:15:10
Ben Thorpe
It's about 80 up in here in Wisconsin. Even so I understand what you're getting at. And why are we adding this machine to the lineup right now. How is this improving and expanding your portfolio.
00:05:15:18 - 00:05:40:10
Lee Tice
So I mean our portfolio prior to this, we had ten machines kind of spread out from that 1.8 ton machine all the way up to a ten ton that we consider many excavators here at JCB. But we jumped from 1.8 to 3 and a half ton. So quite a big jump there in the mini excavator world. When we're talking about the size of machine that people need, most of the times they're requesting, they're looking at capacities that they can haul.
00:05:40:11 - 00:05:54:25
Lee Tice
They're looking at dig depths, those kind of things. And the two and a half ton market is pretty large. I mean, it's basically an 11,000 machine market here in North America. And we didn't have something for that. So it's now filling in the blanks. Basically.
00:05:54:26 - 00:06:08:26
Ben Thorpe
That's a pretty good segue to the next question. You mentioning the the size of the market into which this model is going to enter. So what's going to differentiate this model from the competitors that it's going to be up against here in the US market.
00:06:08:29 - 00:06:32:27
Lee Tice
Very good question. So in this kind of it's not necessarily specific to the 25 Z because the 25 Z, even though it has those new features of a new cab, those kind of things, it does still bring along a lot of the features of our existing range of mini excavators. So big differentiator for our mini excavators across all of our competition is the greasing intervals and serviceability on our machines.
00:06:32:27 - 00:06:51:04
Lee Tice
So I've kind of spoke on we're tailoring this machine for that rental market. Well, what happens when a mini excavator customer picks it up? Maybe it's an extended rental where they're going to have the machine for a month, something like that. They're going to be using this machine for an extended period of time. Well, our greasing intervals is what sets us apart.
00:06:51:08 - 00:07:17:18
Lee Tice
So the entire dig in throughout our entire mini excavator range is 500 hours. So basically saying within 500 hours we do not require daily greasing of the machine. So when when it comes to rental, that's huge. Most of these companies believe that their machines are not getting greased when they go out on rent. They're basically saying, we know when it goes out on rent, it's not going to be greased daily or whatever the manufacturer's recommended specifications are.
00:07:17:22 - 00:07:37:28
Lee Tice
So they're building this cost of we're going to have to replace bushings. We're going to have to place pins in the dig end of the machine. At some point in time with the JCB machines, we are actually increasing their return on investment by saying, you grease this machine at 500 hours. Well guess what, our oil change interval is 500 hours.
00:07:37:28 - 00:07:56:21
Lee Tice
Most of the time the machine is coming back to the shop for that will change major service, those kind of things. The machine can be greased at that point, so it's a huge time saver for the owner operator to where you're not having to start your day every day with a $10 two of Greece and 20 30 minutes of greasing the machine.
00:07:56:21 - 00:08:17:01
Lee Tice
So it saves the owner. If they are a rental company and it saves the end user if it is a contractor that personally owns this machine. So that's a big way that we set ourselves apart. We also use all steel body work. So anywhere we can put steel on this machine we're putting steel. So all of your hood panels, those kind of compartments, they've got steel doors.
00:08:17:03 - 00:08:37:12
Lee Tice
And that just keeps this machine looking new once again that kind of return on investment when it comes time for the machines second or third life, the machine is still looking new. You're not worried about plastic panels that are beat up throughout the operations, because even though these are zero tail swing machines, we still do find they come in contact with obstacles out on the job site.
00:08:37:12 - 00:08:44:25
Lee Tice
So steel panels and flat glass is another way that our full range of mini excavators will set itself apart from the competition.
00:08:44:27 - 00:09:04:14
Ben Thorpe
Based on data from fusible EDA, we know that JCB is still a relatively small player compared to some of the major OEMs here in the US, so just kind of get a feeling of what's the plan over the next few years to grow the presence here in the US market? As you're expanding the lineup with these new models, what's kind of the plan here?
00:09:04:17 - 00:09:32:24
Lee Tice
Yes, I mean, it's really all about awareness, right? We believe that the features of our mini excavators really provide benefit to the end users, and it's getting that message out to the customer. So how do we whether it's through marketing, our dealer network, obviously we're we've got our new factory coming to San Antonio. So our second manufacturing facility here in North America, once again, just growing that footprint, increasing the awareness of who JCB is.
00:09:32:26 - 00:10:01:13
Lee Tice
Because once customers get these machines, they they're believers just like us. So I mean, it's really getting them in the hands of the customers. Demos. We do have a full road show taking place across North America starting actually next month. So it starts June 1st in Albuquerque, New Mexico. We've got a road show, the 25 Z as a part of that, and it's going to go through about 70 stops across North America just traveling the country, small 30 minute performance and then Q&A.
00:10:01:14 - 00:10:11:04
Lee Tice
We provide lunches, things like that. So it's it's all trying to build awareness as JCB, what we believe in here and our core values.
00:10:11:06 - 00:10:21:04
Ben Thorpe
Okay. Well Lee, thank you for your time. We really appreciate this opportunity to to look closer at this machine. And again, thank you for your insight. We really appreciate it.
00:10:21:11 - 00:10:24:04
Lee Tice
Thank y'all. Glad to be here.
00:10:24:06 - 00:10:39:00
Ben Thorpe
With so many new players in the mini excavator market. Contractors shopping the two and a half ton size class will be stacking the 25 Z1 up against some serious rivals. Here are a few of the key models that will be competing with the bobcat.
00:10:39:01 - 00:10:45:04
Ben Thorpe
E 26.
00:10:45:07 - 00:10:52:20
Ben Thorpe
The Cat 302 kr.
00:10:52:22 - 00:11:00:06
Ben Thorpe
The John Deere 26 tier.
00:11:00:08 - 00:11:07:21
Ben Thorpe
The Eu27 four.
00:11:07:24 - 00:11:20:14
Ben Thorpe
That's all for this episode of The Iron Insider. To stay up to date with our latest videos. Be sure to subscribe to our channel. And for more news on all things construction equipment, head on over to equipment Worldcom. Thanks for watching and we'll see you next time.
