1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160 
Kellerg: Kit in a candy store
Page 18
Page 19
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• What should you make of a company with 'showroom' stock worth 22.5m sitting in its yard, comprising no less than six different types of trailers ranging from tippers to block carriers and even three-way drawbars, topped up for good measure by a number of flagship tractors and complete 6x4 mixers?
It's probably one that's either got its order bank disastrously wrong—or one that has a clear understanding of what customers want, and when they want it.
Kel-Berg's Simon Hall maintains that each piece of kit at the company's Weston-on-the-Green site is there for a good reason. "Every Monday, we have a meeting where we walk around the yard. We're constantly evaluating the stock so we haven't got 220,000 worth of 'something sting in the corner that we don't know about."
What is unusual is the kind of equipment that Kel-Berg holds for stock. "if anybody needs a complete 6-7m' mixer in a hurry, there are 10 Atego 2628 mixers here and we'll lease them to an operator or owner-operator. It works out at 2999 a month over five years, including a full R&M package,"
The clear advantage to this arrangement is that there's no frustrating lead-time waiting while the chassis is first sourced and then sent on tc the barrel supplier. Kel-Berg is the UK importing agent for Spanish Baryval mixers. "They're the thirdlargest drum mixers in the EU," reports Hall, 'and everything is Hanson approved." The company is also looking to bring in a triaxle 13rn:'' mixer trailer with a donkey engine and positive steer rear axle.
To understand Kel-Berg's role as a specialist, rather than volume supplier, you only have to walk around its yard. Sitting on display is one of its D1144-tonne urban steering brick and block carriers—Kel-Berg recently sold 20 to Tarmac. The 011's rear axle is positively steered via a single control rod from the kingpin. "It greatly reduces stress on the chassis and tyre wear too, so it's well suited to urban use," notes Hall.
The example in question just happens to have a livery similar to that of a very well-known construction company. Hall admits it's no accident.
'We took a bit of a flyer on colours. It's no secret that we are speccing equipment in the typical colours of the big players—and they can have it next week."
Having a wide variety of stock trailers on display has undeniable benefits, reckons Hall. "When operators get a contract, or have a trailer stolen or written off, they need a trailer quickly. But when they go to a big trailer manufacturer they can't see what they're going to get.
"More and more operators want to physically look at something and see what it is they're buying—and they can see it here."
Persuasive
The time argument is certainly persuasive, considering that tipper giant Fruehauf is quoting an eight-week lead time on orders for a bog-standard bathtub, and even longer for a special.
In addition to more conventional kit, Kel-Berg is not afraid to stock a 'special' like its steel-chassis half-cylinder insulated asphalt trailer, which Hall claims "is currently the most heat retentive in the market".
The 27m3 T99 tipping tri-axle has an Edbro ram and auto tailgate and was developed out of trials in Sweden.
"They loaded lt with tarmac at 200°C, left lt for four hours and when they touched the outside it was still cold. The curved body also loads better into ahoppen" Derbyshire-based Via Gellia has taken a quartet of the half-round insulated tippers (they replaced four eightleggers) and says it is looking to purchase more T99s as an increasing number of sltes accept elm.
From a half-insulated tipping body it's a simple step to a tank. But Hall insists that would be a step too far. "Tankers are very specialised—we'll leave that to Feldbinder and Magyar."
One of the more interesting vehicles Kel-Berg is currently promoting is a three-way drawbar tipper—available as either a complete, ready-for-work combination or as a separate body and trailer with the operator's own primemover chassis.
The company has already sold its stock vehicle based on an Anti-es 2640 6x4. "We like the Mercedes," says Hall, "It's a good tough truck." Ready to roll, it costs £85,000.
Yet despite the popularity of threeway tippers across the Channel, they've yet to find great favour over here— something Hall finds puzzling. "I don't understand it. Go and look at roadworks on the Continent and you'll see them laying pipes or cables and three-way tippers filling in the trenches quite happily from either side. They get over height restrictions and they're a lot more stable too."
The three-way tipping drawbar has twin 14m3 capaclty bodies wlth steel floors and 70mm thick alloy side-boards plus Edbro rams, giving a payload of 28.5 tonnes on the Mere, However, Hall says a load in excess of 30-tonnes is not impossible. "You've got a lot of sub-frame there."
kerhweights
Tipper operators also have plenty to choose from. Kel-Berg offers no less than six stock 'regular' plank or ribbed tipping semis for aggregate and bulker work, with kerbweights from 6.4 to 5.3 tonnes, "without doing anything special either," says Hall.
Its 'Champ' straight-frame triaxle recently achieved a 9° sideways tilt test result. "We have 1,400mm beam centres, which gives us one of the widest tracks on a 30m3 tipping trailer," reports Hall. 'We've never had one go over at 44 tonnes—we did two tests with the air dumped and up to 7.5°."
The move into construction equipment is deliberate, according to Hall: "We see it as a longer-term market." However, on the dry-freight side, Kel-Berg also sells a variety of curtainsiders (it fits its own body kits at Weston) as well as doubledeckers. But why should anyone go to KelBerg when they can get the same variety from more established names?
Hall responds: 'When you talk to other manufacturers, the questions are: 'Can you get one today? Can I change a trailer for one of these?' They may look the same as ours, but we have different features." More importantly, Kel-Berg can tailor a trailer to an individual's spec with the minimum of fuss using its own workshops at Weston. And that, says Hall, is a major advantage. 'We don't have a main competitor because we're not a volume importer. We offer unique features and anything somebody wants either fitted or bolted on, from special side-guards to cranes, we'll do it. People know us for trucks—but we want them to know us for trailers too."