OPERATOR FEEDBACK
Page 26
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MARK JASINSKI
"Good, sensibly priced workhorses."
Mark Jasinski has run his tipper and low loader haulage operation from idyllic Little Scotland Farm, Ingoldsby, for the last 15 years. Ile has two Strain. The latest 405, just four months old, replaced an earlier Seddon Atkinson, while the 380 is just over 12 months old.
He described them as two good, sensibly priced workhorses. Running on five axles at 38 tonnes gives him a payload of 25.2 tonnes with either of his two 60m5 Fruehauf bathtub tipping semi-trailers.
"Unless my customers change their equipment it's not worth going up in size. In the grain market my trailers suit their bin sizes," he told us.
"Quite a bit of time can be spent standing about on tickover waiting to tip. Consequently, we average about 7mpg which I think is OK.
"We cover about 100,000km a year and aim to change the trucks at 300,000km. Apart from the last two, which I traded in, I sold all of my trucks to the same private buyer.
"I've always got a reasonable price but last time the deal worked out better trading them in.
"Not many problems. The charge-cooler pipes blew off when they were quite new— the clips were just not tight enough. The 380 wouldn't start one morning and that turned out to be a faulty relay. The dealer was out and had it fixed within an hour.
"The backup has been 100%. My slack adjusters work OK and the linings last between 50.000 and 60,000Icm. I haven't had a broken spring on a truck since I ran second-hand vehicles. These have got air on the rear.
"I swear by the Twin Splitter gearbox. I guess it takes up to two years to really get to know it but it gives less clutch wear. I expect the clutch to last out its time with me and still have something left in hand for the next operator.
"Seddon Atkinson changes the oil sensor pipe connector on the 405 from an olive to a swaged end. Mine may have just been faulty but it didn't last long before it blew off.
"Tyres last 140,000km on the front and 130,000km on the rear. I don't use remoulds. Bridgestone makes a good tyre for the money. I do my own servicing but apart from consumables I haven't had to buy any parts.
"I've always fitted Eminox exhausts on new trucks. I believe they have given me an edge on power over other trucks with the same size engine. I specified one with a particulate trap for the 405 and it may be introducing a bit more back pressure.
"It looks expensive at /4,000, but the usual system would have cost me £1,000 and I will save £1,000 a year for three years. It should make the truck easier to sell when the time comes and I may even get a bit of extra value on the sale."