AB's drawbars shocker
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• The longest loadspace on a drawbar outfit operating in the UK is claimed to have been built by Abel Demountables.
Southern Electricity specified the drawbar configuration for transporting four pre-loaded demountable bodies from new central stores in Southampton.
The new outfit is able to carry four 3.96m demountable bodies, giving 15.4m of loadspace within the maximum permitted 18m overall length.
Abel and Southern Electricity worked closely with Daf and York Trailer to develop the units. York supplied the truck chassis and skeletal trailer to provide 7.97m of loadspace on each half of the unit.
At Leyland Dal's vehicle modifications centre at Colchester, the standard day cab of the 5.05m wheelbase 2100 chassis was shortened behind the '13' posts to reduce the distance between the back of the cab and bumper to 1.46m. Southern Electricity's transport engineer Bob Beeton says the alteration should not affect crew comfort since fore and aft seat adjustment is not affected.
The complete engine and gearbox assembly had to be moved 178mm forward to prevent obstruction of the demountable baseframe.
Derek Moulding, managing director of Abel, says Southern Electricity already operates 75 of the 3.96m demountable bodies, so it had to try to maximise the volume capacity of its drawbar vehicles according to these dimensions. The Daf 2100 chassis was chosen because it is used in the short cab specification for drawbar units on the Continent. Moulding says drawbar configurations of this length would prove more popular in the UK if more manufacturers offered the short cab as an option.